Shoppers, some wearing a face mask or covering, walk past an electronic billboard displaying a UK Government advert advising the public to take precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, in Newcastle city center, north-east England, on Sept 17, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP)
BRUSSELS / BRASILIA / MEXICO CITY / MADRID / PARIS / LISBON / TORONTO / LONDON / DUBLIN / ADDIS ABABA / PRAGUE / MOSCOW - The UK added London to its watch list of potential pandemic hot spots as coronavirus cases surge across the country.
The move will fuel fears that the capital, which recorded 620 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, could face the kind of local lockdown measures imposed on other cities, which can include a ban on households mixing and the closure of non-essential stores.
Though no new restrictions will be put on London immediately, designation as an area of “concern” means extra testing will be made available, according to London Councils, which represents the city’s local authorities. A formal announcement is expected Friday.
After a summer in which Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government encouraged people to eat out and return to their workplaces to boost the economy, case numbers are now surging in many parts of the UK ahead of the critical winter months.
The latest Office for National Statistics survey published Friday found the infection rate in England increased to 1 in 500 people from 1 in 900 in the week through Sept 19, excluding hospitals and care homes, with all ages affected. In both Wales and Northern Ireland, the rate was 1 in 300. The daily rate of new infections in England rose to 9,600 from 6,000, according to the ONS.
In official testing data, the UK reported 6,634 new cases on Thursday, the highest number in a single day since the start of the pandemic. On Friday, the government reported the so-called R-number, or virus reproduction rate, across the UK is between 1.2 and 1.5. It means that on average every 10 people with the disease will infect between 12 and 15 other people.
The Welsh government said Friday new lockdown restrictions will come into force in Cardiff and Swansea -- the two biggest cities in Wales -- over the weekend, while university students in Scotland have been ordered to stop socializing.
In London, Mayor Sadiq Khan blamed the lack of testing capacity for the capital’s addition to the UK watchlist.
“London is at a very worrying tipping point right now,” Khan said in an emailed statement. “It’s vital that testing capacity is increased immediately in London and focused in the areas it is needed most. Any delay will mean letting the city down and will cost lives.”
The reproduction “R” number of COVID-19 infections in the United Kingdom has risen to a range of 1.2-1.5 from last week’s figure of 1.1 to 1.4, the government said on Friday.
“An R number between 1.2 and 1.5 means that on average every 10 people infected will infect between 12 and 15 other people,” the government said, adding that the number of new infections was growing by 4 percent to 8 percent each day.
Brazil
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will issue decrees laying the legal groundwork for Brazil to join the global COVID-19 vaccine partnership known as COVAX and earmarking 2.5 billion reais (US$453.8 million) for securing vaccines through the facility, his office said on Thursday.
Brazil plans to use the COVAX facility to buy enough supplies to immunize 10 percent of its population by the end of 2021, the press office said in a statement. That should cover Brazil's "priority populations," it said.
Brazil recorded 32,817 new cases in the past 24 hours, and 831 deaths from the disease, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.
The new figures brought the tally and the death toll to 4,657,702 and 139,808, respectively.
Rio de Janeiro has postponed its world-famous carnival because of the virus, Agence France-Presse said on its Twitter account, citing an unidentified official.
A woman is tested for COVID-19 at a mobile testing center in Marseille, France, Sept 24, 2020. (DANIEL COLE / AP)
EU
The risks of air travelers catching COVID-19 on a passenger aircraft are "very marginal" provided health measures are applied, Europe's top aviation safety regulator said on Friday.
Only seven out of three million passengers on flights in recent weeks showed symptoms of the virus while on board, according to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said.
European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides called on EU member states to roll out measures immediately and at the very first sign of potential new outbreaks
On Thursday, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides warned against the "COVID-19 fatigue" witnessed in some member states, amid the worrying trend of increase in the coronavirus infections.
Addressing a video press conference in Brussels, Kyriakides said some EU member states were experiencing higher numbers of COVID-19 cases than during the peak in March, and in some areas, signs of fatigue with physical distancing and the disregard of norms could be seen.
She called on the member states to roll out measures immediately and at the very first sign of potential new outbreaks.
ALSO READ: Europe virus stars scramble after declaring victory too fast
"Until there is a safe and effective vaccine available, rapid identification, testing, and quarantine of high-risk contacts are some of the most effective measures to reduce transmission," European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) Director Andrea Ammon at the same press conference.
The ECDC on Thursday updated its risk assessment, which shows that infection rates have increased steadily across the EU and Britain since August, and that "the measures taken have not always been sufficient to reduce or control exposure".
Some 51 out of 186 crew members of a European Union naval vessel on Friday tested positive for the coronavirus, the EU’s Irini military mission said in a statement, adding the infections were discovered following routine testing.
The mission operates in the Mediterranean to stop arms from reach warring factions in Libya, enforcing an embargo imposed by the UN Security Council to stop military clashes and facilitate the peace process in the African country.
The Margottini frigate is docked in the southern Italian port of Augusta for logistic reasons after 15 days of activity at sea, the statement said. The majority of those who tested positive were Italian nationals.
Irini said it would now repeat the test for all the personnel on board to check whether there were even more infections.
Global tally
Coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 32 million on Thursday while the global death toll topped 980,000, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.
The world will officially record 1 million deaths from COVID-19 in the next few days, but the real tally might be almost double that.
Worldwide, the growth in the number of daily deaths has eased since spiking in March and April, helped by improved medical care and ways to treat the disease. But as resurgences flare in Europe and North America ahead of winter and the flu season, COVID-19 fatalities may rise sharply again.
Africa tally
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases recorded across Africa reached 1,429,704 as of Thursday with the death toll approaching 35,000, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
The Africa CDC said in a statement that the toll rose to 34,839 while the total number of recoveries logged stood at 1,175,855.
WHO
The Cayman Islands, Chile and Trinidad and Tobago had signed up for the global COVID-19 vaccine partnership known as COVAX, which is led by the World Health Organization, Seth Berkley, CEO of the GAVI Vaccine Alliance said on Thursday.
Some northern hemisphere countries are having trouble obtaining additional flu vaccines amid increased demand, but health workers and the elderly should be prioritised in case of any shortages, the WHO said on Friday.
With official warnings of a potential “twindemic” as COVID-19 surges in Europe just ahead of the flu season, the WHO is recommending that people get a seasonal flu vaccine to prevent hospitals being overwhelmed. But some countries appear not to have enough for everyone, it said.
READ MORE: WHO chief stresses vaccine plan benefits
Novavax vaccine
Novavax Inc plans to start enrolling participants for a late-stage study of its experimental shot for the coronavirus in 10,000 patients in the UK.
The company joins the ranks of AstraZeneca Plc, Pfizer Inc with German partner BioNTech SE and Moderna Inc as its vaccine enters the final stretch on the path toward regulatory approval.
Algeria
Algeria reported on Thursday 179 new COVID-19 cases, its lowest daily tally since June 29, bringing the total infections to 50,579, the Ministry of Health said.
Another five deaths were also reported, taking the death toll to 1,703.
According to the ministry, 116 more patients were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of recoveries to 35,544.
Also on Thursday, Health Minister Abderrahmane Benbouzid ruled out the immediate reopening of Algeria's borders, which have been closed for more than six months.
People practice social distancing as they wait in line to be tested for COVID-19 at an assessment centre at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada, Sept 24, 2020. (NATHAN DENETTE / THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA AP)
Canada
The Canadian province of Ontario on Thursday moved to limit COVID-19 testing as labs struggled to keep up with demand, and some doctors called for immediate restrictions on non-essential businesses as the country entered a second wave of infections.
According to an open letter signed by 38 doctors and healthcare experts, Ontario should place restrictions on dine-in restaurants and bars, nightclubs, gyms, theaters, and places of worship; ask non-essential businesses to have employees work from home; and instruct universities and colleges to offer classes online wherever possible.
Ontario would refocus testing on people with symptoms, close contacts of confirmed cases and some other high-risk groups, discouraging tests for low-risk people without symptoms. Under a new guidance, asymptomatic people at the site of specific outbreaks may be considered for asymptomatic testing, along with high-risk populations like long-term care home workers, residents and visitors.
The city of Toronto announced that it has canceled all city-organized and city-sponsored events in the rest of this year to prevent the spread of pandemic.
Nationwide, Canada has reported 151,087 confirmed cases and 9,297 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Chile
Chile said on Thursday more than 100 deaths from COVID-19 were again reported in a single day.
According to the Ministry of Health, 124 more COVID-19 patients died in the previous 24 hours, raising the total death toll to 12,469.
The government said the increase in fatalities was "due to a delay in the registration of deaths in the Civil Registry (because of the recent national holidays) and not due to a change in trend," the daily La Tercera reported.
Meanwhile, tests detected 1,731 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the total caseload to 451,634.
Czech Republic
Nineteen people infected with COVID-19 died on Sept 23 in the Czech Republic, the highest daily count since the global pandemic reached the country in March, Health Ministry data showed on Thursday.
The country of 10.7 million people has so far reported 567 deaths connected with the related COVID-19 illness.
Also on Thursday, the country reported 2,309 new infections to lift its tally to 55,464.
Finland
The Finnish government reduced on Thursday the number of epidemiologically "safe" countries from which travelers are allowed to enter the country and restored a number of travel restrictions.
From Sept 28, Finland will restore restrictions on travelers arriving from Estonia, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Germany and Slovakia in Europe, as well as from Georgia, Canada and Tunisia outside Europe. Unrestricted entry to Finland will only be possible from Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Poland and San Marino.
Finland on Thursday reported 91 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 9,379. Deaths rose by two to 343.
France
France's prime minister warned on Thursday that the government could be forced to reconfine areas if the number of COVID-19 cases did not improve in the coming weeks and defended tough restrictions taken on Wednesday.
France's prime minister acknowledged he had not downloaded the government's contact-tracing app, saying that given his job, he wasn't overly exposed to the coronavirus
When asked whether France was heading towards a new confinement, Jean Castex said the government did not want to, but left the door open if the situation worsened.
READ MORE: Lockdown lite is Europe’s new strategy for fighting COVID-19
Health authorities reported 16,096 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Thursday, setting a new record of daily infections, the fourth in eight days. The new additions pushed the tally to 497,237. Deaths rose by 52 to 31,511.
The French government may be pushing for people to download its COVID-19 contact-tracing app, but when asked on whether he had done so, Castex said he had not because he did not take the metro. He said that in his job there was no need for the app.
"Look at my role! Sadly, carrying out my functions, it means I don't take the metro. STOP-COVID is only interesting when you go on the metro or meet people," he said. "I see less people."
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire this week tested positive for the virus and is in quarantine.
People watch face masks displayed at a shop in Munich, Germany, Sept 24, 2020. (MATTHIAS SCHRADER / AP)
Germany
Germany recorded 2,321 new infections, the most since late April and taking the total to 281,346, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. It was the first figure above 2,000 since Saturday.
According to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases, confirmed cases rose by 2,153 to 280,223 while the death toll increased by 15 to 9,443.
Germany’s reproduction figure -- the average number of people infected by one person with the disease -- fell for a fifth day Thursday, down to 0.78 from 0.79, according to the RKI.
Ireland
The Irish government on Thursday imposed tightened COVID-19 restrictions in a second region, banning indoor restaurant dining and non-essential travel in the northwestern county of Donegal a week after similar measures were imposed in Dublin.
Donegal, which has registered over 120 cases per 100,000 population over the past 14 days, borders the United Kingdom region of Northern Ireland.
The new rules will remain in place for three weeks, the government said in a statement.
Also on Thursday, Ireland removed Germany, Poland and Lithuania from its travel “green list”, leaving just four countries - Cyprus, Finland, Latvia and Liechtenstein - exempt from a 14-day quarantine for arriving passengers.
Ireland has so far reported 33,994 confirmed cases and 1,797 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Medical workers in protective gear prepare to conduct COVID-19 tests on a family in their home in the Xochimilco borough of Mexico City on Sept 24, 2020. (REBECCA BLACKWELL / AP)
Mexico
Mexico's confirmed coronavirus caseload rose to 715,457 on Thursday, according to updated data from the health ministry, along with a reported death toll of 75,439.
Authorities reported 5,408 new cases along with 490 deaths on Thursday, but the true figures are likely significantly higher due to little testing.
Morocco
Morocco registered 2,356 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the tallyto 110,099, the health ministry said in a statement.
Thirty-eight more deaths were also reported, lifting the death toll to 1,956, while the number of recoveries increased by 1,942 to 90,186.
Peru
More than 6 million Peruvians have been left jobless due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Labor Minister Javier Palacios said on Thursday.
Some 8 percent of Peru's 32 million inhabitants are unemployed, with the unemployment rate as high as 15 percent in the capital Lima, said Palacios.
The National Institute of Statistics and Informatics recently reported that a total of 6,720,000 Peruvians lost their jobs as the pandemic idled economic activity.
Peru's government has adopted strict measures to contain the outbreak of the disease but is gradually reactivating the economy.
Peru has so far reported 782,695 confirmed cases and 31,870 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Poland
Poland is considering reimposing some restrictions as it expects high daily numbers in new coronavirus cases to continue, the health ministry said on Friday.
Poland reported a record daily rise in coronavirus cases for the second consecutive day on Friday, with the biggest spike in the central region of the country.
It reported 1,587 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total to 84,396 infections, including 2,392 deaths. The biggest spike was reported in central Poland with 295 new infections.
The health ministry said that as of Friday there were 96 ventilators and 1,995 hospital beds devoted to COVID-19 patients.
On Thursday the ministry attributed the rise in new cases to increased direct contact between people after restrictions were lifted.
Portugal
Portugal has extended measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic until at least mid-October, the government announced on Thursday, at a time an increase in the number of daily cases in the country continues to worry authorities at home and abroad.
The whole country was put under a state of contingency on Sept 15 and it will remain under it until Oct 14, meaning gatherings continue to be limited to 10 people and commercial establishments must close between 8 pm and 11 pm.
The government also decided on Thursday to extend the ban on festivals and similar events until the end of the year.
Portugal, which has reported 71,156 cases so far, initially won praise for its response to the pandemic. Now, cases have crept back up, with the health authority reporting 802 cases on Wednesday, one the worst days since the beginning of the pandemic.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control placed Portugal on Thursday as one of the countries showing a "worrying trend" of coronavirus cases but still with "moderate risk".
A woman wearing a face mask to protect against the coronavirus walks on Red Square in downtown Moscow, Russia, on Sept 24, 2020. (YURI KADOBNOV / AFP)
Russia
The mayor of Moscow urged businesses on Friday to get more people to work from home as Russia's daily tally of new coronavirus cases hit its highest since June 23.
The mayor of Moscow urged businesses to get more people to work from home as new cases in the capital rose almost 50% overnight to 1,560 from 1,050 the previous day
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin also told people over the age of 65 and with chronic health problems to stay home. He said there had been a “serious increase” in hospitalizations.
Officials reported 7,212 new infections, bringing the national case total to 1,136,048. In the capital Moscow, the tally of new cases rose almost 50 percent overnight to 1,560 from 1,050 the previous day. '
The national coronavirus taskforce said 108 people had died across Russia, pushing the official coronavirus death toll to 20,056.
READ MORE: Putin tells Russians to obey rules as COVID-19 cases tick higher
Earlier on Friday, Russia's sovereign wealth fund (RDIF) said it had agreed to supply up to 35 million doses of the Russian experimental vaccine against COVID-19 to Uzbekistan's Laxisam, a pharmaceutical company.
Slovakia
Slovakia's daily count of new coronavirus cases rose to 419, a fresh record, Prime Minister Igor Matovic said in a post on his Facebook profile on Friday.
For the country, which has one of Europe's lowest death tolls from the novel coronavirus, the figure represents the third record tally in a row.
Spain
The Spanish government has recommended locking down all of the city of Madrid again to curb the spread of coronavirus after local authorities imposed restrictions on some areas of the region, Health Minister Salvador Illa said on Friday.
The recommendation comes shortly after the regional government extended a partial lockdown from Monday to 45 health areas of the region, affecting more than one million people, local authorities said.
Tough weeks are coming in Madrid. We must act with resolve to bring the pandemic under control.
Salvador Illa, Spanish health minister
Spain's cumulative tally of confirmed cases passed 700,000 on Thursday and authorities warned of tougher times ahead in the densely-populated virus hotspot region of Madrid, which accounts for over a third of hospital admissions.
The tally now stands at 704,209, the highest in Western Europe. Deaths rose by 84 to 31,118, including 13 deaths registered in the past 24 hours.
Hospitals in Madrid are filling up with seriously-ill patients again. The number of intensive-care beds with coronavirus patients jumped to 39 percent on Thursday from 25 percent at the end of last week, according to official data.
"Tough weeks are coming in Madrid. We must act with resolve to bring the pandemic under control," Illa told reporters before meeting regional officials.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Isabel Celáa said the reopening of schools over the past two weeks had not led to any significant increase in infections, and only 0.73 percent of all classes have had to be quarantined so far.
Tunisia
Tunisia's health ministry reported on Thursday 826 new COVID-19 cases and six more deaths, raising the total number of infections to 13,305 and the death toll to 180.
READ MORE: Johnson tightens virus controls at 'perilous' stage
US
Coronavirus cases in the United States neared 7 million on Thursday as the death toll topped 202,000.
Three US states - Montana, South Dakota and Utah - reported record one-day increases in new COVID-19 cases, according to state data.
In New York City, health inspectors will start entering private schools in several Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods experiencing an outbreak, the city health department announced. Officials are adding enforcement personnel to ensure people comply with mask and social distancing requirements.
Federal court bailiffs accused the government in a lawsuit of failing to provide necessary protective gear and sanitation to keep them safe from the virus.
On COVID-19 vaccine, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state will carry out its own review of vaccines authorized or approved by the federal government due to concerns of politicization of the approval process.
Separately, the scientific head of the US government program designed to speed development of COVID-19 vaccines said he supports stricter rules to grant emergency use of new inoculations against the coronavirus.
On virus relief aid, Democrats in the US House of Representatives are working on a US$2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package that could be voted on next week, a key lawmaker said.
Georgia
Georgia reported a record 265 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest number since the outbreak of the virus in the country, bringing its total to 4,664.
Among the 265 new cases, 165 were confirmed in the western Adjara region, the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health said.
As of Friday, 1,759 of the 4,664 patients have recovered, while 27 others have died, said the center.
Botswana
Botswana's anti-pandemic authority on Thursday evening advised the public against traveling during the coming Independence Day holiday, warning of a potential spike in COVID-19 cases.
Speaking on national television, Kereng Masupu, the coordinator of the Presidential Task Force for COVID-19 in Botswana, said the country is continuing to register an increasing number of new positive COVID-19 cases as community spread gathers pace.
In the past week, the authority has been registering an average daily increase of 60 new cases, which is a high number given the country's population of just over two million people, Kereng said.
Next Tuesday marks Botswana's 54th anniversary of independence and is a national holiday, during which people usually travel between cities and towns to celebrate with their families.
However, people should consider celebrating the holiday differently this year by staying at their place of residence, as the virus has proved to spread faster when people travel, Masupu said.
To date, Botswana has confirmed 1,730 COVID-19 cases. In the past week, the country registered another three deaths from COVID-19 related complications, taking the death toll to 16.
Botswana has to date conducted over 170,000 tests, most of which were contact traced from already confirmed cases, while others were detected at entry points.
Netherlands
New coronavirus cases in the Netherlands hit another record on Friday, with 2,777 cases reported in the past 24 hours, according to health authority data.
The rise, part of a broader second wave of COVID-19 that began in late August, has led to a series of new highs. Friday’s number beat the previous record of 2,544 set a day earlier.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said the public should regain a sense of urgency about following social distancing rules to slow the virus’s spread, and the government will order regional measures as needed. Schools and bars remain open, with masks required only on public transportation.
