A visitor wearing a face mask is pictured in front of a giant ferris wheel at the Prater amusement park in Vienna, Austria, on May 29, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)

BRASILIA / BOGOTA / WASHINGTON / MADRID / STOCKHOLM / CAPE TOWN / HARARE / BERLIN / BUCHAREST / KIEV / ROME / MOSCOW / VIENNA - Austria is reintroducing a requirement that face masks be worn in supermarkets, banks and post offices because of an increase in coronavirus infections in recent weeks, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Tuesday.

Austria went into lockdown early in its outbreak in mid-March and began loosening its restrictions a month later, even scrapping the requirement to wear face masks in shops and schools on June 15.

Face masks are still required on public transport, in hospitals and pharmacies and at hairdressers.

While the number of daily infections here was regularly well under 50 in May and June, it has increased in the past three weeks - it was over 100 almost every other day this month.

“There are areas of daily life where one cannot choose whether one goes or not - the supermarket, the bank, the post office,” Kurz told a news conference. “We have therefore decided that we will make face masks compulsory again in supermarkets, in banks, in post offices.”

Clusters have recently emerged in and near Vienna as well as in the province of Upper Austria, which borders Germany and the Czech Republic. Several of those clusters are linked to churches, and Austria has reported an increase in cases imported from the Balkans, issuing travel warnings for countries there.

Kurz said tighter testing requirements would be introduced for arrivals from the Balkans, and restrictions would be introduced to reduce the size of religious services and force churches to close in the event of a positive coronavirus test.

A child infected with COVID-19 is comforted by a medical worker at "Victor Babes" infectious diseases hospital in Timisoara, Romania, July 18, 2020. (DANIEL MIHAILESCU / AFP)

Romania

A legislative void that enabled thousands of Romanians infected with the new coronavirus to walk out of hospitals or not be treated at all ends on Tuesday as a new law comes into effect.

Romania has reported a spike in COVID-19 infections this month and record high daily levels since the pandemic started in the country in February. Until this month, the government through a series of cabinet decrees has managed the outbreak by hospitalizing those who were infected and by quarantining or home-isolating people who might have been exposed. 

Some 972 people who tested positive for COVID-19 were released from hospital at their request against medical advice between July 2-20, data released late on Monday showed. Roughly 3,680 infected people were not hospitalized at all

But on July 2, the country's Constitutional Court ruled that Romania could not enforce mandatory quarantine or hospitalized care based on government decrees, and that such containment measures could only be taken through a parliamentary law.

A new law fast-tracked in parliament comes into effect on Tuesday and covers the legislative void.

Some 972 people who tested positive for COVID-19 were released from hospital at their request against medical advice between July 2-20, data released late on Monday showed. Roughly 3,680 infected people were not hospitalized at all.

The government has yet to estimate the impact of the legislative void on the growing number of infections, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said.

By Monday, Romania had recorded a total of 38,139 cases, of whom 22,747 recovered and 2,038 died. Health Minister Nelu Tataru told private television station Digi 24 late on Monday that Romania could see a spike to over 1,000 new daily cases in the following days and that the government could decide to quarantine specific outbreaks in companies or neighborhoods going forward.

Global tally

Global COVID-19 cases topped 14.7 million and the global death toll surpassed 610,000 Tuesday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The United States is the worst-hit nation, with more than 3.8 million confirmed cases and 140,000 deaths. 

Other countries with more than 250,000 cases include Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa, Peru, Chile, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Spain.

WHO warns of virus surge in sub-Saharan Africa

There is "a continued acceleration of (COVID-19) transmission" in sub-Saharan African countries, including South Africa which is now the fifth worst-hit country worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.

The African continent as a whole has reported 597,223 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 9,691 deaths, according to WHO statistics by Monday.

According to the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 720,622 confirmed cases and 15,082 deaths had been reported across the continent as of Monday morning.

Last week, South Africa witnessed a 30-percent increase in COVID-19 cases. Similar trends are observed in other African countries, including Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia, with increasing rates of 69 percent, 66 percent and 57 percent respectively, said Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program

Although the cases from Africa only account for around four percent of the total worldwide, Ryan warned that what was happening in South Africa is "a marker of what the continent could face if original action is not taken to provide further support."

Ryan said that external help and support to community-based interventions, clinical pathway improvements, and public health surveillance are needed in many African countries, as many of them are "in the midst of fragility and conflict".

Indigenous people 'especially at risk'

Indigenous communities comprising half a million people around the world are especially vulnerable to the new coronavirus pandemic due to often poor living conditions, the WHO also warned on Monday.

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that as of July 6, there were more than 70,000 cases reported among indigenous peoples in the Americas, with more than 2,000 deaths.

"WHO is deeply concerned about the impact of the virus on indigenous peoples in the Americas, which remains the current epicenter of the pandemic," Tedros said.

Most recently, at least six cases have been detected among the Nahua people in the Peruvian Amazon, Tedros said.

ALSO READ: Virus fears grow for isolated indigenous people in Brazil's Amazon

Members of the Guarani Mimbya indigenous community wait to be tested for COVID-19 by health workers from the Butantan Institute in Cananeia, Brazil, July 10, 2020. (ANDRE PENNER / AP)

Albania

The Albanian government has decided to close all night clubs, pubs, discos and lounge bars, as coronavirus cases in the country continue to rise, Minister of Health and Social Protection Ogerta Manastirliu said at a press conference on Monday.

According to Manastirliu, the decision was adopted after it was observed that crowded clubs and lounge bars turned into coronavirus hotspots as young people gather there especially during the weekend.

According to the government's decision, the Normative Act entered into force Monday, which see the closure of night clubs, discos, lounge bars which have indoor or outdoor spaces, except restaurants. Businesses that fail to comply will be fined 3 million Albanian lek (around US$27,630) and face one year’s suspension of operation.

On Monday, health authorities reported 81 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 4,171.

Belgium

King Philippe of Belgium on Monday called on Belgians to "mobilize all forces" to succeed in the "gigantic challenge" of economic and social recovery and to find a "clearly defined trajectory" leading out of the COVID-19 crisis.

The COVID-19 crisis has not spared Belgium. It has also aggravated the existing social injustices, hitting hard those who were already in a precarious situation, less well-housed or trained, King Philippe said.

Recognizing the mobilization of the political class to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, he called for a similar mobilization for the formation of a resolute and stable government.

To date, Belgium has had 63,893 confirmed cases. It has seen an average of 154 new cases of infection per day over the last seven days, according to figures published on Monday by the public health institute Sciensano.

Brazil

Brazil's education minister said Monday he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, underscoring a struggle to limit the world's second-worst outbreak even among the political elite.

The announcement by newly appointed minister, Milton Ribeiro, came on the same day Citizenship Minister Onyx Lorenzoni announced his diagnosis.

President Jair Bolsonaro, Mines and Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque, and Bolosonaro's national security advister Augusto Heleno have all tested positive for the virus as well.

ALSO READ: Bolsonaro tells supporters anti-virus measures kill

Brazil registered 20,257 new confirmed cases and another 632 deaths, the health ministry said on Monday. Total cases in Brazil, the world's second most affected country after the United States, have now risen to 2,118,646 while the death toll reached 80,120.

A commission linked to the Organization of American States (OAS) on Monday asked Brazil's government to take steps to protect the indigenous Yanomami and Yekuana peoples from the pandemic. In a statement, the entity's Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) gave the government 15 days to outline what measures it has taken, such as the provision of adequate healthcare, to protect the indigenous peoples' livelihoods.

Colombia

Colombia's confirmed cases of coronavirus topped 200,000 on Monday, the health ministry said, while deaths from the disease reached 6,929 as the Andean country continues a months-long lockdown meant to stem infections.

Colombia now has a total of 204,005 cases, still well behind other Latin American countries like Brazil, Peru, Mexico and Chile, which are among the 10 countries worldwide with the most infections.

Colombia's government has estimated it will reach its peak of cases in August. Several cities, including the capital Bogota, are close to full occupation of beds in COVID-19 intensive care units.

The nationwide quarantine - declared at the end of March by President Ivan Duque - is set to last until Aug 1.

Egypt

Egypt reported on Monday 627 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's infection tally to 88,402, said the Health Ministry.

It was the 12th consecutive day for Egypt's daily COVID-19 infections to be below 1,000.

Another 50 COVID-19 related deaths were reported, raising the death toll to 4,352, the ministry's spokesman Khaled Megahed said in a statement.

The spokesman said that 544 more patients have recovered and were discharged from hospitals in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 28,924.

People enjoy the summer weather at the 'Isar' river banks in Munich, Germany, July 19, 2020. (MATTHIAS SCHRADER / AP)

Germany

Germany recorded a slight increase in the number of new coronavirus cases amid an easing in the country’s infection rate. 

There were 590 new cases in the 24 hours through Tuesday morning, bringing the total to 203,325, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. 

According to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases increased by 522 to 202,345 while the reported death toll rose by four to 9,090.

The reproduction factor of the virus declined to 1.15 on Monday, from 1.25 the day before, according to the latest estimate from the RKI.

Ghana

Ghana reported 763 newly confirmed coronavirus infections late Monday, bringing its tally to 28,430, according to the latest update by the Ghana Health Service.

The number of recoveries increased by 1,652 to 24,901.

Five more deaths were reported, raising the death toll to 153.

Currently, the number of active cases stands at 3,376.

Italy

The northern Italian region of Lombardy, the epicenter of the country's coronavirus pandemic, has seen notable improvement in its COVID-19 data recently.

The region reached a positive milestone on Sunday, reporting zero additional deaths and just 33 new infections.

On Monday, the region saw a slight increase of 56 new cases and eight deaths. But for a region that has seen nearly half of Italy's total COVID-19 mortalities -- 16,796 of the country's 35,058 total deaths -- Sunday's figures were hailed by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Minister of Health Roberto Speranza, as well as Lombardy Regional President Attilio Fontana.

Nationwide, Italy on Monday recorded just 13 deaths, compared with three fatalities from the day before. There were 190 new infections Monday, down from 219 a day earlier. The total number of active cases on Monday was 12,404, down by 36.

Kenya

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said Monday he will convene a crisis meeting on Friday to review the surge in COVID-19 infections across the country.

The announcement came as the Ministry of Health on Monday announced 418 new COVID-19 cases, raising Kenya's tally to 13,771.

Rashid Aman, chief administrative secretary in the Ministry of Health, said recoveries rose to 5,616 after another 494 patients were discharged from hospitals.

Meanwhile, four more deaths were recorded, raising the death toll to 238.

Aman said that 526 healthcare workers have so far been infected since the outbreak of the disease. 

READ MORE: African health worker cases top 8,000

Libya

The National Center for Disease Control of Libya on Monday reported 114 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 1,980.

So far, 441 recoveries and 49 deaths had been reported, the center said.

Mexico

Mexico's Health Ministry on Monday reported 5,172 new confirmed coronavirus infections and 301 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 349,396 cases and 39,485 deaths.

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

Morocco

Morocco registered 326 new coronavirus cases on Monday, raising the tally in the North African country to 17,562, the health ministry said.

The number of the recoveries rose by 211 to 15,132, said Mouad Mrabet, coordinator of the Moroccan Center for Public Health Operations at the Ministry of Health, at a press briefing.

The death toll from the virus stood at 276.

Russia

A COVID-19 vaccine developed with the Russian Defense Ministry completed Phase 2 trials, leading First Deputy Defense Minister Ruslan Tsalikov to say the first domestic inoculation is ready for use.

A second group of volunteers ended Phase 2 trials Monday, with everyone developing immunity from the coronavirus and feeling fine, Tsalikov said in an interview with Argumenty i Fakty newspaper published Tuesday. He didn’t say when Phase 3 large-scale trials would take place or when production of the vaccine might begin.

The Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tests of the vaccine are continuing, the Interfax news service reported, citing the Health Ministry in response to the statement.

ALSO READ: Virus: Wave of promising study results raise hopes for vaccines

The army is developing a vaccine with the state-run Gamaleya Institute in Moscow and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. Phase 3 trials, which will include thousands of people in Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are scheduled to begin Aug 3 and distribution of the vaccine could start as early as September, RDIF’s head Kirill Dmitriev said last week.

Russia could make 30 million doses domestically in 2020, and 170 million abroad, with five countries expressing interest in producing the vaccine and others willing to produce it, according to Dmitriev.

Russia reported 5,842 new cases on Tuesday, pushing its total infection tally to 783,328, the fourth largest in the world. Deaths rose by 153 to 2,580, the country's coronavirus response centre said.

South Africa

Two members of the South African cabinet have been admitted to hospital with COVID-19, the presidency said on Tuesday.

Thembelani Nxesi, the minister for employment and labour, and Gwede Mantashe, the minister for mineral resources, were taken to hospital on Monday. Both men had been self-isolating after testing positive for the novel coronavirus around a week ago.

Mantashe was admitted to hospital on the advice of their family doctor for better medical attention and monitoring, government spokesperson Phumla Williams said in a statement Monday.

Mantashe and his wife Nolwandle Mantashe had been put under self-isolation at home after testing positive for COVID-19 a week ago. Mantashe's wife remained in self-isolation although her husband has been admitted to hospital, Williams said.

In addition to Mantashe and Nxesi, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula had also tested positive for COVID-19. Mapisa-Nqakula has recovered, the government said earlier.

Africa’s most industrialised economy now has one of the highest rates of infection of the novel coronavirus in the world, with 372,628 confirmed cases and 5,173 deaths.

A group of people stand next to a banner hung on a fence informing visitors of the closure of the beach due to crowding, in Barcelona, Spain, on July 19, 2020. (JOSEP LAGO / AFP)

Spain

The prevalence of the novel coronavirus in Spain has risen three-fold over the last three weeks as authorities struggle to contain a rash of fresh clusters, mainly in the Catalonia and Aragon regions, Health Ministry data showed on Monday.

After registering thousands of cases and hundreds of deaths per day during an early April peak, Spain succeeded in slowing the number of new infections to a trickle.

But since restrictions on movement were lifted and Spaniards relaxed back into daily life, some 201 new clusters have appeared, with heavy concentrations in and around the Catalan cities of Barcelona and Lleida.

The occurrence of the novel coronavirus has jumped from eight cases per 100,000 inhabitants at the end of June, when the country's state of emergency ended, to 27 per 100,000, deputy health emergency chief Maria Sierra said at a news conference on Monday.

Over the weekend 4,581 new cases were recorded, bringing the country's tally to 264,836, she added. More than 28,000 people have died.

Describing the situation in Catalonia as concerning, Health Minister Salvador Illa appealed to residents to respect health measures.

Sweden

Sweden's health agency said on Monday it was changing its COVID-19 contact-tracing guidelines so that tracing is done to a larger extent by the individuals infected.

The new guidance breaks from a strategy adopted by most countries where authorities trace and notify people who have had close contact with a carrier of the disease.

An agency spokeswoman said it was much better that individuals themselves contact people they may have infected, rather than official tracking units which currently have this responsibility. The existing system worked well when the number of infections was lower but had become less effective as the number grew, she said.

Although the number of infections in Sweden has slowed in recent weeks, a total of 78,048 people have been infected since the pandemic began, a figure far outstripping its Nordic neighbors.

READ MORE: Sweden launches commission to investigate coronavirus response

UK

A trial is underway in the UK exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to help monitor the lung physiology of COVID-19 patients to optimize ventilation treatments.

Patients with severe COVID-19 may develop a condition known as Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, which prevents the lungs from providing the body with enough oxygen. The condition is life-threatening and often requires mechanical ventilation in intensive care. Selecting the wrong ventilator setting can damage the patient’s lungs further, which is why researchers at Imperial College London are studying how AI can help personalize ventilator settings to individual patients.

The system could be helpful to the National Health Service’s response to a second wave of COVID-19 during the winter months when demand increases, Brijesh Patel, clinical senior lecturer at Imperial College London, said in an interview.

The UK has reported more than 294,000 confirmed cases and over 45,000 deaths.

Ukraine

The total number of coronavirus cases in Ukraine has reached 60,166 and 1,518 people died as of July 21, Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said on Tuesday.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last week Ukrainians were fed up with the coronavirus lockdown and the government should be cautious about extending it.

UN

The United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York on Monday started its phase one reopening, after the headquarters were closed for four months due to COVID-19.

"Phase one means that no more than 400 people should be in headquarters at any given day," Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at the noon briefing.

"Currently, we have about 200 to 300 UN staff and delegates who have been coming in, including those who handle security, maintenance and cleaning," Dujarric said. "So, the moving up of the ceiling to 400 will be quite small and not really visible," said Dujarric, adding that "phase two will be rolled out gradually."

On normal workdays, some 11,000 people including UN staff, delegates and visitors enter the UN premises.

Visitors, some wearing face masks to protect against COVID-19, walk through downtown San Antonio, Texas, July 20, 2020. (ERIC GAY / AP)

US

US President Donald Trump, under fire over his administration's response to the surging coronavirus, said on Monday he will resume holding news briefings on the pandemic after a lengthy hiatus.

He told reporters in the Oval Office the resumption was prompted by a "big flareup in Florida, Texas, a couple of other places." He said he expected the first new briefing would take place about 5 pm EDT (2100 GMT) on Tuesday.

Coronavirus cases in the US increased 1.3 percent as compared with the same time Sunday to 3.79 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. Deaths rose 0.2 percent to 140,716.

California reported a record increase of more than 11,800 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, according to a Reuters tally of county data, the first time the state has reported over 10,000 new infections since setting a record with 10,861 cases on July 14.

Florida reported over 10,000 new cases a day for the last six days in a row and Texas has reported over 10,000 cases for five out of the last seven days.

Florida has become the epicenter of the latest COVID-19 surge, prompting the state's teachers union to sue Republican Governor Ron DeSantis over his plan to reopen schools for in-class instruction.

READ MORE: Uber offers virus contact tracing help amid chaotic US response

In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a Democrat, imposed new clamp-downs, including a ban on indoor service at bars and shutdown of personal services such as shaves and facials that require the removal of masks.

New York City entered phase four of reopening, excluding the resumption of additional indoor activities. Lower risk outdoor arts and entertainment activities, such as television and film production, can now resume while botanical gardens and zoos can reopen at 33 percent capacity, according to the state and city governments.

Meanwhile, advisers to Trump and congressional Democrats were set to discuss the next steps in responding to the coronavirus crisis on Tuesday, with congressional Republicans saying they were working on a US$1 trillion relief bill.

The US will have to come up with alternative ways to detect COVID-19 infections as the current swab testing capacity won’t be able to meet demand during the fall flu season, the Financial Times (FT) reported, citing Quest Diagnostics Inc. The US is likely to be hit by a double-dip recession if its national spread of COVID-19 is not brought under control soon, the FT warned.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe recorded 102 new COVID-19 cases and one additional death, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,713 and the death toll to 26.

The new infections include 21 imported cases and 81 local ones.

So far, a total 472 patients have recovered.

Netherlands

The spread of the novel coronavirus in the Netherlands grew significantly in the past week after months of slowing down, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) announced on Tuesday.

Over the past week, 987 new COVID-19 infections were reported, which are nearly twice as many as the previous week, when 534 new infections were reported.

A total of 19 COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospital, an increase of three patients compared to last week, while seven deaths were reported, one less than the week before.