People gather outdoors at dusk on a viewpoint in Barcelona, Spain, July 25, 2020. (FELIPE DANA / AP)

LONDON / BARCELONA / SAO PAULO / SAN JOSE / MEXICO CITY / PARIS / ATHENS / LIMA / BERLIN / MOSCOW - British foreign minister Dominic Raab on Sunday stood by his government’s abrupt decision to impose a two-week coronavirus quarantine on travelers returning from Spain, which has provoked anger and confusion among tourists.

The move to take Spain off a safe-travel list was announced late on Saturday and took effect from midnight (2300 GMT on Saturday), leaving travelers with no time to dodge it or plan ahead. The British foreign ministry also advised against all but essential travel to mainland Spain.

Responding to the British measures, Spain said on Saturday it was a safe country with localized, isolated and controlled outbreaks of the coronavirus

The opposition Labour Party’s health policy chief, Jonathan Ashworth, slammed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government for its “frankly shambolic” handling of the measure, which has scuppered the plans of many would-be holidaymakers.

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Spain’s Canary and Balearic Islands are not covered by the advice to avoid travel to the mainland, but holidaymakers returning to Britain from the islands will still be subject to quarantine on return.

Responding to the British measures, Spain said on Saturday it was a safe country with localized, isolated and controlled outbreaks of the coronavirus. A Spanish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Spain “respects decisions of the United Kingdom” and was in touch with the authorities there.

Spain was one of the worst hit countries in Europe by the pandemic, with more than 290,000 cases and over 28,000 deaths. The Catalonia region reported a steep decline in new coronavirus cases on Sunday, dropping to 69 from 772 on Saturday. 

Britain itself has been the worst hit country in Europe by the pandemic, with more than 328,000 cases and an official death toll of more than 45,600.

Global tally

Global cases of the coronavirus exceeded 16 million and deaths topped 644,000 on Sunday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The United States is the worst-hit country, with more than 4.1 million cases and over 146,000 deaths, followed by Brazil, which has reported more than 2.3 million cases and over 86,000 deaths, according to the tally.

Countries with more than 300,000 cases also include India, Russia, South Africa, Mexico, Peru, Chile and Britain, according to the tally. 

The number of confirmed cases across the African continent rose from 787,501 on Friday to 810,008 as of Saturday afternoon, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. The death toll in the continent reached 17,088, up from 16,697 from the day before, the Africa CDC said.

African Development Bank approves loans, grants

The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved loans and grants for several nations to ward off the COVID-19 pandemic as infections multiplied across the continent.

The lender will provide US$97.7 million for Rwanda’s budget to help the nation strengthen its health-care system, buttress economic resilience and mitigate the pandemic’s impact on the most vulnerable people. 

The bank will also extend US$41.2 million to Djibouti, which includes a US$4.1 million loan under its COVID-19 response facility. 

AfDB directors also agreed on US$53.3 million in grants for Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone from the US$10 billion COVID-19 Response Facility, its main channel for cushioning African nations from the economic and health impact of the crisis.

Ghana, which ranks fourth in the number of infections on the continent, will receive US$69 million in grants to upgrade isolation facilities, purchase more test kits, drugs, equipment and beds, the AfDB said.

Belarus

Belarus reported 156 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking its nationwide tally to 67,002, according to the country's health ministry.

There were 337 new recoveries in the past 24 hours, bringing the number of recoveries to 60,092, the ministry added.

So far, 530 people have died of the disease in the country, including six that were recorded over the past 24 hours, it said.

Belgium

Belgium’s seven-day average of new infections, the favored measure of virologists to smooth out the so-called weekend effect arising from less testing being done on Saturdays and Sundays, rose to 255, a 71 percent increase from the preceding seven-day average. 

On July 22, the most recent 24-hour period with fully processed data, new infections totaled 534, the most for any single day since May 5.

Overall, Belgium has reported more than 65,727 confirmed cases and 9,821 deaths, according to a tally by John Hopkins University.

Brazil

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro tested negative for COVID-19 the fourth time he took the RT-PCR test. He reported the infection on July 7.

The president used his Twitter account to announce the results, and released a picture showing him holding a box of hydroxychloroquine, the drug he’s been touting despite there being no clear scientific evidence of its benefits to combat the coronavirus. After the announcement, Bolsonaro went through Brasilia in a motorcycle and met with supporters.

In the last 24 hours, Brazil added 51,147 new cases and another 1,211 deaths to the toll, the health ministry said later Saturday. 

The South American nation has now registered a total of 86,449 deaths and 2,394,513 confirmed cases.

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Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s health ministry reported a record 931 new coronavirus cases and 11 deaths on Saturday, both single-day highs for the small Central American nation where 72 percent of all its confirmed cases have been registered since the beginning of this month.

In total, Costa Rican authorities have reported 14,600 cases and 98 deaths in the country of 5 million people.

Despite the increase in cases, hotels are operational and the government has announced European, British, and Canadian tourists will be allowed to enter the country beginning Aug 1.

Egypt

Egypt recorded on Saturday 511 new COVID-19 infections, taking the tally in the country to 91,583, said the Health Ministry.

In a statement, the ministry's spokesman Khaled Megahed said another 40 patients died in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 4,558.

A total of 933 patients were cured and discharged from hospitals in the same period, raising the number of recoveries to 32,903.

France

French health authorities are making COVID-19 tests available free of charge without prescription as they closely monitor an uptick in infections after the lifting of lockdown measures.

PCR nasal swab tests, which detect COVID-19 infections caused by the novel coronavirus, will be freely available on demand under government orders published on Saturday.

“We wouldn’t describe this as a second wave, but what’s clear is that for several days now we have seen a noticeable increase in the number of confirmed cases, which had been in decline for 13 weeks,” Health Minister Olivier Veran said in an interview published in Le Parisien’s Sunday edition.

France has recorded 30,192 deaths attributed to the coronavirus, among a total of 180,528 cases of the disease, according to statistics published on Friday. The number of new daily infections rose above 1,000 for a second day running - around their daily level when lockdown measures were eased in May.

Georgia

Georgia confirmed 13 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking its national tally to 1,117.

Among the new cases, the source of one is still unknown, the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC) said.

As of Saturday, 917 patients have recovered from COVID-19 while 16 others have died, the center said.

Germany

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 305 to 205,269, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday.

The reported death toll was unchanged with 9,118, the tally showed.

Germany may introduce compulsory coronavirus testing for holidaymakers returning from high-risk destinations after the number of new infections in the country hit a two-month high, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Saturday.

Spahn's remarks came a day after the health minister and his regional counterparts from Germany’s 16 federal states agreed that authorities would offer returning holidaymakers free tests on a voluntary basis.

Arrivals from countries designated as high-risk - which currently include the United States, Brazil and Turkey - will be eligible for immediate tests, while arrivals from other places will be able to get tested within three days.

If a holidaymaker arriving home from a high-risk country tests negative they will not have to observe a 14-day quarantine, which is otherwise mandatory though it has been loosely enforced.

Greece

Visitors to Greece arriving by air from Bulgaria and Romania will need to provide proof they have tested negative for coronavirus to gain entry, Greece’s Civil Protection authority said on Saturday.

The requirement, which will come into effect from July 28 to Aug 4, will not apply to Greek nationals arriving from those countries.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Bulgaria passed 10,000 on Saturday, with 270 confirmed new infections in the past 24 hours, official data showed.

Greece is not facing a second wave of infections but needs to remain vigilant, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias told Skai TV on Saturday.

Greece has managed to contain the spread of coronavirus to 4,135 confirmed cases and 201 deaths, based on the latest data after imposing an early lockdown.

Kenya

Kenya's Ministry of Health reported Saturday that another 375 people tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 16,643.

Rashid Aman, the ministry's chief administrative secretary, said that 128 more patients have recovered after being treated. 

Libya

The National Center for Disease Control of Libya on Saturday reported 123 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases in Libya to more than 2,500.

The center said in a statement that six more patients have recovered while one more person died.

The center said the infection tally Libya stood at 2,547, including 510 recoveries and 58 deaths.

Mexico

Mexico’s health ministry on Saturday reported 6,751 newly confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 729 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 385,036 cases and 43,374 total deaths.

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

Morocco

Morocco on Saturday reported 811 new COVID-19 cases, the biggest single-day increase so far, taking the number of infections in the country to 19,645.

Recoveries rose by 181 to 16,282 while the death toll increased by six to 305, according to Mouad Mrabet, coordinator of the Moroccan Center for Public Health Operations at the Ministry of Health. 

Mrabet noted that the total number of cases reported in the last six weeks was equal to the number of cases recorded in three and a half months since the outbreak began in the country.

The reproduction rate of the virus has now reached 1.11, after having fallen considerably, he said.

Peru

The Peruvian government will reevaluate the national health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to determine if "tougher measures" are needed, Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti said Saturday.

"We are monitoring the figures. There has been a new rebound," Mazzetti said, adding quarantine measures may be extended in regions where cases are increasing.

According to the latest official report, Peru has so far registered 379,884 COVID-19 infections, with 18,030 deaths and 263,130 recoveries. A total of 13,043 people are currently hospitalized due to the disease. 

Romania

An outbreak of 119 COVID-19 infections was detected at a wagon factory in Drobeta-Turnu Severin, southwestern Romania, as the country reported 1,284 new infections on Saturday, the fourth straight day with daily cases topping 1,000.

The factory was closed last Friday after the first five cases were confirmed, but 119 cases have been registered so far, including 57 registered in the last 24 hours, according to the Public Health Directorate of Mehedinti county.

Latest statistics showed that 15 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 2,165. 

As of Saturday, the country with a population of some 19 million has registered 43,678 COVID-19 cases, of whom 25,373 people have recovered.

Russia

Russia on Sunday reported 5,765 new coronavirus cases and 77 more deaths, a steep decline from the 146 deaths reported a day earlier.

The nationwide tally of infections has risen to 812,485, Russia’s coronavirus crisis response centre said. The COVID-19 death toll now stands at 13,269 and 600,250 people have recovered.

South Africa

South Africa’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel tested positive for COVID-19, the presidency said.

Patel is quarantining and will work from home. Those who’ve had contact with him are self-isolating and are being urged to get tested, according to a statement on the presidency’s website.

South Africa has reported more than 434,000 confirmed cases and over 6,600 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, the country has doubled to six months the term of loans to small and medium-sized businesses to help them survive the COVID-19 recession and made other changes to make the credit easier to access, the treasury said on Sunday.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the 200 billion rand ($12 billion) loan scheme in April to help businesses, as part of stimulus measures to lessen the pandemic impact on South Africa’s already shrinking economy.

Uganda

Uganda's Ministry of Health on Saturday reported 14 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of infections in the east African country to 1,103.

A total of 19 foreign truck drivers who tested positive for COVID-19 at Uganda's border point were denied entry into the country, it said.

According to the ministry, the revised number of patients who have been discharged from hospitals after successful treatment stood at 982. 

On Thursday, Uganda reported its first death from COVID-19. 

Ukraine

Ukraine reported 1,106 new cases of the coronavirus within a 24-hour period, the highest daily increase since a record on June 26, when it reached 1,109, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said on Saturday.

The number of new daily infections has increased sharply in the past two months following the gradual lifting of restrictions that began in late-May.

Stepanov said that 205 people had been admitted to hospitals. “It means their lives are under threat and we have to understand that this disease is very serious,” he said in an online briefing.

The total number of cases rose to 63,929, including 1,590 deaths, while 35,497 patients recovered as of July 25. 

US

US coronavirus cases rose by 77,848, the second-highest daily count on record, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. Deaths rose 1,297, the fourth time this week with fatalities over 1,000, the data show.

Florida passed New York as the US state with the most cases except for California, based on health department data published Saturday.

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New York added 750 positive tests for a total of 411,200. Florida reported 414,511 total positive tests on Saturday, compared with 402,312 a day earlier, an increase of 12,199. 

California’s count of confirmed cases rose to 445,400 earlier Saturday. The state reported 10,066 new cases on Saturday, higher than the 14-day average of 9,407, according to the health department’s website.

South Carolina reported 74 more deaths, a record, at the end of a week when it also reported a record number of new cases. 

Kentucky reported its second-highest daily number of COVID-19 cases, with 836 new cases while Texas reported 6,020 new cases, a drop from 8,701 new cases the previous day. 

Zambia

Zambia recorded 472 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest daily increase recorded since the country recorded its first two cases in March, the health ministry said on Saturday.

Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya said the new cases brought the cumulative cases to 4,328.

The country also recorded three more deaths, bringing the death toll to 139.