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22-06-2020
By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies
BRASILIA/ NEW YORK/ ISLAMABAD: The novel coronavirus pandemic is still accelerating and its effects will be felt for decades, the World Health Organization’s director-general said.
The WHO reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases as the total rose by 183,020 in a 24-hour period. The biggest increase was from the Americas, with more than 116,000 new cases.
Brazil officially passed the 50,000 mark, with 50,617 coronavirus deaths as of Sunday. It has recorded 1,085,038 cases to date, according to the country’s health ministry.
Worldwide, at least 8.9 million people have been confirmed to have the coronavirus, At least 4.4 million have recovered, while more than 467,000 people have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Here are the latest updates:
Bulgaria makes face masks compulsory again as cases rise
Bulgaria has ordered residents to wear face masks again in all indoor public places after it recorded its highest weekly rise in coronavirus cases.
The order, issued by Health Minister Kiril Ananiev, came 10 days after he made masks indoors “highly recommended” but not mandatory, apart from on public transport, in pharmacies and medical establishments.
Bulgaria, which has registered 3,905 cases and 199 deaths from the coronavirus, recorded 606 new COVID-19 cases last week, the country’s highest weekly rise.
Kazakhstan to lock down city at weekend as cases jump
Kazakhstan will impose a two-day lockdown in the northern city of Kostanay and four nearby towns next weekend after a jump in fresh COVID-19 cases, local newspaper Kostanayskiye Novosti reported.
Residents of Kostanay and the four towns, including Rudny and Lisakovsk, will be barred from leaving their houses except for work or urgent necessities on June 27-28, the newspaper reported, citing local authorities.
The oil-rich nation of 19 million has favoured weekend restrictions as the number of cases more than quintupled to about 28,000 since lifting a nationwide lockdown in mid-May. It temporarily closed shopping malls, markets, parks and public transit in major cities last weekend.
Coronavirus cases in the Balkans region
North Macedonia’s Institute of Public Health announced 101 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. Five people died, and the number of active cases is 2,942.
In Serbia, 91 people tested positive for COVID-19, with one death reported, bringing the death toll to 261.
Three new cases were registered in Montenegro, bringing the total number of active cases to 38.
Pakistan among countries hardest hit by COVID-19
Pakistan continues in the top 10 countries for daily coronavirus-case increases, with 4,471 new cases on Sunday taking its tally to 181,088 to date, according to government data. At least 89 people died of coronavirus on Sunday, taking its death toll to 3,661.
Over the weekend, Pakistan resumed service for limited commercial international flights into and out of the country, the first time such flights have been allowed since March 21. Domestic commercial flight operations resumed on May 16.
Cases continue to spread across the country, with testing continuing at around the 30,000 tests a day mark, well below the 50,000 recommended by the World Health Organization in a letter to the Pakistani government earlier this month.
Pakistan has adopted a “smart lockdown” approach to containing the virus, opting to lock down infection hot spots, rather than entire cities. On Monday, however, local newspaper Dawn quoted officials in northern city of Rawalpindi – home to two million people, a medium-sized city by Pakistani standards – saying that they did not have enough police personnel to enforce the lockdowns in all identified hotspots, raising fears that the new approach may not be effective.
Indonesia’s death toll reaches 2500, with over 46,000 infections
Indonesia reported 954 new coronavirus infections, taking its total number of cases to 46,845.
Health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said there were 35 more deaths reported, with total fatalities now at 2,500, the highest coronavirus death toll in East Asia outside of China.
Spain to decide this week which non-European tourists can visit
Spain will decide this week which visitors from outside Europe can enter as it welcomes back travellers from neighbouring nations in an effort to revive a tourism industry hammered by the coronavirus lockdown, a minister said.
Spain is the world’s second most-visited nation, with roughly one in five of its normally 80 million annual visitors coming from Britain.
Health Minister Salvador Illa told Cadena SER radio station that Madrid would discuss with European Union (EU) partners whether to also let in travellers from outside the continent.
Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya confirmed to COPE radio that a two-week self-quarantine for visitors had been lifted, but non-Europeans were still not allowed in except for Spanish passport-holders, health workers or people in transit.
One of the worst-hit nations, Spain has registered 246,272 cases and 28,323 deaths from the COVID-19 disease.
Serbian champions Red Star say five players positive for coronavirus
Serbian football champions Red Star Belgrade said five of their players have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Marko Gobeljic, Njegos Petrovic, Dusan Jovancic, Marko Konatar and all felt unwell ahead of the final Serbian Superleague round against Proleter on Saturday and did not appear in the stadium.
Branko Jovicic showed no symptoms but returned a positive test, Red Star said on its website. The rest of the players and the management were also tested and none were positive, they added.
Red Star celebrated the third consecutive championship after the win against Proleter at home. Around 18,000 fans, many of them packed closely together, attended the match and celebration afterwards.
‘No-swab’ saliva test for cornavirus piloted in UK
A weekly coronavirus testing regime using a “no-swab” saliva test is being trialed in Southampton, southern England, and could result in a simpler and quicker way to detect outbreaks of the virus, the UK government said.
“Saliva testing could potentially make it even easier for people to take coronavirus tests at home, without having to use swabs,” said Health Secretary Matt Hancock. “This trial will also help us learn if routine, at-home testing could pick up cases of the virus earlier.”
More than 14,000 doctors and health workers, other essential workers and university staff and their households will participate in the trial, which uses an Optigene test, the government said.
Rather than taking a swab, which some people find uncomfortable, participants will spit into a pot. Test results will be received within 48 hours, the government said.
Russia reports 7,600 new coronavirus infections
Russia has reported 7,600 new cases of the coronavirus, pushing its nationwide case total to 592,280, the world’s third largest tally.
The coronavirus taskforce response said 95 people had died in the past 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 8,206.
Dimitrov gets coronavirus after ‘reckless’ tennis charity event
Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov has tested positive for the coronavirus after taking part in a charity event organised by men’s top-ranked player Novak Djokovic.
Dimitrov pulled out of the regional exhibition tournament – which had sparked criticism for its lack of safety precautions – in Croatia on Saturday following his opening singles match, after feeling unwell.
“I want to … let my fans and friends know that I tested positive … for COVID-19,” Dimitrov wrote on Instagram on Sunday.
Beijing COVID-19 cases to see ‘cliff-like’ drop this week, says expert
Beijing will see a “cliff-like” drop in new cases in the current coronavirus outbreak by the end of this week with efforts to control the spread of infections in the Chinese capital underway, said an expert at the national health authority.
The city of more than 20 million people reported its first case linked to a wholesale food centre in the southwest of Beijing in the latest wave on June 11. So far, 236 people have been infected in the worst outbreak in Beijing since COVID-19 was identified at a seafood market in the central city of Wuhan late last year.
Beijing reported on Monday nine new cases for June 21, sharply down from 22 a day earlier.
“If you control the source and cut the chain of transmission, the number will have a cliff-like drop,” Wu Hao, a disease control expert from the National Health Commission, told state television in an interview aired on Sunday night.
Beijing is not headed for a “flood-like” lockdown, unlike early efforts in Wuhan when little was known about the virus, Wu said, adding lockdown procedures have been more targeted this time.
Fears of South Korea losing control over second virus wave
The mayor of South Korea’s capital fears the country is losing control over a virus resurgence and said Seoul will reimpose stronger social-distancing measures if the daily jump in infections does not come below an average of 30 over the next three days.
“If Seoul gets penetrated (by the virus), the entire Republic of Korea gets penetrated,” Park Won-soon said in a televised briefing.
He also lamented what he described as complacency of citizens in social distancing, citing an increase in public transportation usage that he says has been approaching last year’s levels in recent weeks.
Citing research by health experts, Park said the country could be possibly reporting as much as 800 new cases a day a month from now if it fails to stem current trends in transmissions. He said the basic reproduction number of virus carriers, which measures the number of infections caused by an individual, has reached nearly 1.8 for the period between April 30 and June 11. Any number above 1 indicates a growing epidemic.
Abu Dhabi eases movement restrictions within emirate
Abu Dhabi has eased restrictions to allow movement between its cities for all residents starting on Tuesday but extended restrictions on entry into the emirate by non-residents, its media office said.
Abu Dhabi, the largest and wealthiest member of the United Arab Emirates, extended a ban on entering the emirate without a permit for another week, the media office said in a tweet, while allowing residents to exit the emirate freely.
As virus surges, Pakistan says there is no choice but to open
The coronavirus is spreading in Pakistan at one of the fastest rates in the world and overwhelmed hospitals are turning away patients. But the government is pushing ahead with opening up the country, trying to salvage a near-collapsed economy where millions have already slid into poverty from pandemic restrictions.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said the refusal to impose a complete lockdown saved the country from economic collapse. In televised speeches, he has taken to pleading with Pakistanis to wear masks, ignore countless conspiracy theories and take the virus seriously.
As cases spiralled, the government last week shut down some districts in Islamabad and other cities where fresh outbreaks have been identified. But otherwise it has largely continued with lifting coronavirus restrictions.
The restrictions were initially imposed in mid-March, but within weeks, they were lifted bit by bit.
Brazil’s virus death toll tops 50,000
Brazil has reported 641 more deaths from coronavirus over the past day, becoming the second country worldwide with a death toll topping 50,000.
The country’s health ministry said the overall fatalities have mounted to 50,617, according to public news agency Agencia Brasil.
Meanwhile, 17,000 new infections were reported over the past day, taking the nationwide case-count to more than 1.08 million.
Brazil is one of the world’s hardest-hit regions due to the virus, and now in second place after the US in the death toll.
India’s infections soar in rural areas
India’s coronavirus caseload has risen to 425,282 as infections soar in rural areas where migrant workers fleeing major cities have returned in recent weeks.
India’s health ministry on Monday reported 14,821 new cases and about 300 new deaths, bring the toll of fatalities up to more than 13,000. The coastal state of Goa reported its first COVID-19 death.
India’s government planning body Niti Aayog says infections have now emerged in 98 out of 112 of the country’s poorest districts.
Still, about 60 percent of India’s cases have been reported in the states of Delhi, which includes the national capital of New Delhi, Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital Mumbai and Tamil Nadu, where manufacturing hub Chennai is located.
New Zealand to extend ban on cruise ship arrivals
New Zealand has announced that it is extending a ban on cruise ships arriving in the country as it looks to safeguard borders as new cases emerge of people arriving in the country with the coronavirus.
“We are extending the current cruise ship ban which was due to expire on the 30th of June,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a news conference.
Cargo vessels will still be allowed to load and unload, fishing vessels to unload and resupply, and vessels can come to New Zealand to undertake repairs and refitting, Ardern said, although some quarantine rules would be tightened.
Thailand reports three new imported cases
Thailand on Monday reported three new coronavirus cases, all imported, marking 28 days without local transmission, Reuters news agency reported, quoting a senior official.
The three new cases were Thai nationals returning from India and were detected in state quarantine, said spokesman for the government’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, Taweesin Visanuyothin.
Thailand has so far recorded 58 deaths related to COVID-19 among 3,151 infections, of which 3,022 patients have recovered.
Taweesin said the administration was coordinating with Myanmar authorities regarding 23 coronavirus cases found among migrants deported from Thailand.
Greece reports 10 new cases
Authorities say Greece had 10 new COVID-19 cases and no virus-related deaths between Saturday and Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
The daily update brought the country’s total confirmed cases to 3,266, including 190 deaths.
Greek authorities say the median age of the infected people who died is 76 and all of those under age 70 had suffered from serious conditions unrelated to the virus.
Two coronavirus cases reported in New Zealand
New Zealand has reported two new cases of the coronavirus as a trickle of infected people continue to arrive at the border, according to the Associated Press.
The country of five million people now has nine active cases after having none at all earlier this month.
Health officials said on Monday that all those cases involve people who have recently arrived and are in quarantine, and there is no evidence of community transmission.
Still, many remain anxious community transmission could return, especially after health officials admitted making a mistake by allowing two women who had arrived from London to leave quarantine before they had been tested because a parent was dying. The women later tested positive and have since isolated themselves.
Germany’s cases rise to 190,359
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 537 to 190,359, Reuters news agency reported on Monday quoting data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases.
The reported death toll rose by 3 to 8,885, the tally showed.
Barber offers hope in Peruvian barrios devastated by virus
Amid the coronavirus lockdown in Peru, barber Josue Yacahuanca is offering some hope to residents of some of the poorest neighbourhoods in the capital, Lima.
Once a week, Yacahuanca seeks out clients devastated by the pandemic and the nearly 100 days of lockdown, giving haircuts for free.
“I want them to look in the mirror and see a bit of hope,” Yacahuanca told the Associated Press news agency. At 21 years old, he is already considered a veteran barber having started cutting hair at 13.
150 cannery workers forced into quarantine without pay in Los Angeles
About 150 seasonal workers hired by a salmon cannery in Alaska are being forced to quarantine without pay at a hotel in Los Angeles after three of them tested positive for the coronavirus, the Associated Press news agency reported quoting a news report.
The workers, most of them from Mexico and Southern California, were hired on June 2 by North Pacific Seafoods to work at its Red Salmon Cannery in Naknek, Alaska, through August, according to the lawsuit filed on Friday in San Francisco Superior Court, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Instead, they have been stuck at the Crowne Plaza LAX Hotel since June 10, attorney Jonathan Davis said.
Leauri Moore, vice president of human resources for North Pacific Seafoods, told the newspaper in an email that she had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.
Mongolians cite Genghis Khan for success in dealing with pandemic
Fresh air, a diet of free-range milk and meat, plus Genghis Khan’s fighting spirit are among reasons being cited by Mongolians for why the country has managed to fight off the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a South China Morning Post report.
In a series of interviews with the Hong Kong-based publication, an historian, a shaman, a monk and a medical doctor all referenced Genghis Khan, the conqueror and leader of the Mongolian Empire during the 12th and 13th centuries, saying that they have learned to live and eat simply like him, “and do not experience the stress and consumerism” by people from other countries.
Dr Chinburen Jigjidsuren, a special health adviser to the prime minister, was also quoted as saying that the government learned from Genghis Khan the art of clear communication keeping the public informed and prevented panic in dealing with the pandemic.
As of Monday, Mongolia has at least 206 coronavirus cases, all imported, and zero deaths.
Report: Malaysians complain of weight gain during lockdown
More and more Malaysians are complaining about their weight gain during coronavirus lockdown in the country starting in mid-March, the Kuala Lumpur based The Star reported.
The newspaper said the development “was not really a surprise” considering that many have become homebound and less active physically.
“Some even chose not to share their most recent photographs on their social media accounts to avoid receiving criticism from their friends,” the report said.
Even before the pandemic, obesity was already a health concern in Malaysia. According to the World Population Review 2019, Malaysia has the highest prevalence of obesity among adults in Southeast Asia at 15.6 percent.
The National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2019 findings, meanwhile, showed that 50.1 percent of adults in Malaysia were either overweight or obese – 30.4 percent were overweight and 19.7 percent obese.
China reports 25 new coronavirus cases
China reported 18 new coronavirus cases for June 21, 9 of which were in the capital Beijing, Reuters reported on Monday quoting the National Health Commission. Another seven cases are categorised as asymptomatic.
This compared with 26 confirmed cases a day earlier, 22 of which were in Beijing. Local authorities are restricting movement of people in the capital and stepping up other measures to prevent the virus from spreading following a series of local infections.
Seven asymptomatic COVID-19 patients were also reported – those who are infected but show no symptoms, were reported as of June 21 compared with six a day earlier.
South Korea cases dip to nearly one-month low
New coronavirus cases in South Korea dipped to a nearly one-month low on Monday due mainly to less testing over the weekend, Yonhap news agency reported, quoting health officials.
The country added 17 new cases, including 11 local infections, raising the total number of cases to 12,438, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). There were also six additional imported cases, raising the total to 1,441.
This was the first time since May 26 that the number of new daily COVID-19 cases fell below 20. It also marks a sharp drop from 67 cases Saturday and 48 cases Sunday, KCDC added.
There were no additional deaths, keeping the total death toll to 280.
New York City coronavirus tracing off to a bumpy star
New York City’s effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus through contact tracing has been hampered by the reluctance of many people who are infected with the virus to provide information to tracers, according to a report in The New York Times.
The Times report said just 35 percent of the 5,347 city residents who tested positive or were presumed positive for COVID-19 in the first two weeks of the contact tracing programme gave information about their close contacts.
Perry N Halkitis, dean of the School of Public Health at Rutgers University, called the 35 percent rate for eliciting contacts “very bad”, adding that it should be closer to 75 percent.
Dr Ted Long, head of New York City’s new Test and Trace Corps, defended the programme and said 69 percent of the people who complete an interview provide contacts. “We think that’s a strong start but we also do want to get that number up,” Long told The Associated Press news agency.
