Coronavirus - 19th September

Summary for Saturday, 19th September
(from The Guardian)

• The number of coronavirus cases worldwide passed 30 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. The global death toll stands at 947,919 people and is expected to pass 1 million by 1 October. The US accounts for than 22% of global cases, at 6.69m, and nearly 200,000 fatalities.
  
• US president Donald Trump said he expects to have available enough doses of a coronavirus vaccine for every American by April.
  
• Three people who tested positive for Covid-19 in a cluster in Melbourne have been hospitalised. There are 34 cases in the cluster in the suburb of Casey, with authorities saying the households breached Melbourne’s lockdown restrictions.
  
• Victoria has announced 21 new cases of coronavirus and seven more deaths. The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has urged anti-lockdown protesters not to gather following reports of more planned protests in Melbourne on Saturday. Public health authorities are racing to stop infections growing in the Casey and Dandenong council areas on the Melbourne’s south-east rim, which now has 90 active cases.
  
• The UK government has hinted at second national lockdown amid reports of a plan to “circuit break” the virus. The UK’s health secretary, Matt Hancock, told Sky News: “The number of people in hospital is doubling every eight days or so ... we will do what it takes to keep people safe.”
  
• Greek authorities have also been tightened restrictions in Athens and in Spain the regional government of Madrid has announced a partial lockdown of some districts.
  
• France reported an unprecedented 13,215 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 over the past 24 hours. The health ministry also said that the total number of deaths from Covid-19 increased by 154 to 31,249, the highest daily toll in three months.
  
• The European Union has agreed to buy 300m doses of an as yet unapproved coronavirus vaccine being developed by Sanofi and GSK.
  
• Australia’s national cabinet agreed on Friday to begin easing travel caps on international arrivals. NSW, Queensland and WA have agreed to allow more people into hotel quarantine, which will lift the number of returned travellers from 4,000 to 6,000 per week. Labor has said the plan does not go far enough to assist the tens of thousands of Australians stranded overseas.
  
• Prime minister Scott Morrison said Australia was looking again at a trans-Tasman travel bubble, where New Zealanders could come into Australia without quarantine.
  

Poland and Indonesia report record daily coronavirus cases

Poland reported 1,002 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, according to the health ministry’s Twitter account, the highest daily increase since the pandemic began, Reuters reports.
The new record comes days after the authorities tightened conditions under which doctors are obliged to send patients for testing. Critics say the new rules may limit the number of people going for tests.
Meanwhile, Indonesia reported its biggest daily rise in coronavirus infections, with 4,168 new cases on Saturday, taking the total to 240,687, data from the country’s health ministry showed.
The data added 112 new deaths, taking the total to 9,448, the biggest death toll in south-east Asia.
In the Philippines, the health ministry reported 3,962 new coronavirus infections and 100 additional deaths, with both numbers the highest in five days. In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed cases have risen to 283,460, the highest in south-east Asia, while deaths have reached 4,930

India has reported 93,337 new cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, and 1,247 more deaths.
It takes the country’s total case numbers to 5.3 million, and deaths to 85,619.
India has been reporting highest single-day rise in cases every day for the past five weeks, and is expected to become the worst-hit country in the world within weeks, surpassing the US, AP reports

Victoria police make arrests at anti-lockdown protest in Melbourne

Victoria police say they have made a number of arrests at an anti-lockdown protest at Elsternwick in south-east Melbourne.
“While we know the majority of the community are doing the right thing, the behaviour of these selfish few who choose to blatantly ignore the direction will not be tolerated,” Victoria Police tweeted. Read more

UK police urge people to obey rules over sunny weekend

Police officers have prevented a wedding party going ahead as forces urge people to comply with coronavirus restrictions over the warm, sunny weekend.
Greater Manchester police said officers stopped restrictions being breached after responding to reports of a wedding party at a house in Wythenshawe on Friday evening.
“Police attended and found that a gazebo had been erected in the garden of a property,” the force tweeted. “Officers prevented the illegal gathering before restrictions were breached.”
The Met Office has forecast a weekend of largely dry, bright and fine weather, with temperatures reaching up to 24C (75.2F).

Lockdown restrictions increasingly likely for London
It is increasingly likely that lockdown restrictions will soon be needed to slow the spread of coronavirus in London, the capital’s mayor has said.
Sadiq Khan said action should be taken before the virus spirals out of control, and leaders were considering measures already imposed in other parts of the UK. He said the government should ensure there was a fully functioning testing system in place.
In a statement, he said he had held an emergency meeting with London council leaders, the government and Public Heath England to discuss the next steps.
Khan said:

:Left Quotes:  The prime minister has said that we are now seeing the start of a second wave of Covid-19 across the UK.
Londoners should also know that I am extremely concerned by the latest evidence I’ve seen today from public health experts about the accelerating speed at which Covid-19 is now spreading here in London.
It is increasingly likely that, in London, additional measures will soon be required to slow the spread of the virus.
We will be considering some of the measures which have already been imposed in other parts of the UK.
I am of the firm view that we should not wait, as happened six months ago, for this virus to again spiral out of control before taking action.
The best thing for both public health and the economy is new restrictions imposed early, rather than a full lockdown when it’s too late – but the government must urgently ensure there is a fully functioning testing system.

UK facing 'perfect storm' after the easing of controls, senior scientist says

Nicola Slawson - The Guardian
The epidemiologist whose modelling helped shape Britain’s coronavirus lockdown strategy has said that new coronavirus restrictions will be needed in England “sooner rather than later” if the government is to prevent the disease surging again.
Prof Neil Ferguson, who resigned from the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said the country was facing a “perfect storm” after the easing of controls over the summer.
On Friday, Boris Johnson admitted in a speech that Britain was entering a second wave of coronavirus. It is understood that he is preparing to impose sweeping nationwide measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Johnson will spend the weekend in talks with officials in Downing Street, the Telegraph reports.

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A holidaymaker who did not self-isolate after returning to Bolton was partly responsible for the area’s “extreme spike” in coronavirus cases, the council leader has said, PA reports.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Bolton Council leader David Greenhalgh said:

:Left Quotes: We had somebody who did not adhere to quarantine, did not stay the 14 days, literally went on a pub crawl with a number of mates.
From that incident which took place over a weekend - (they) visited a number of premises - led to a large number of individual transmissions from that one person which you can imagine then is like holding back the tide because he then became symptomatic two days after they had all gone on this pub crawl.
He was positive-tested the following day.
That is four or five days where all the people he was in contact with have been going about their normal day-to-day business.

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Mainland China reported 14 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, down from 32 cases reported a day earlier, Reuters said, citing the Chinese national health authority.
The national health commission said in a statement that all new cases were imported infections involving travellers from overseas. It also reported 24 new asymptomatic cases, up from 20 a day earlier, though China does not classify these patients without symptoms as confirmed Covid-19 cases.
The total number of Covid-19 cases for mainland China stands at 85,269, while the death toll remains unchanged at 4,634.

Rise in Iran's coronavirus death toll
Iran’s coronavirus death toll has risen by 166 to 24,118, a health ministry spokeswoman told state TV on Saturday, according to Reuters.
The total number of identified cases rose by 2,845 in the last 24 hours to 419,043 in Iran, one of the Middle East’s worst-hit countries, spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari was quoted as saying.

Covid warnings ring out as Latin America bids to return to normality
Latin America has had some of the longest lockdowns in the world but experts are urging countries not to reopen too soon
Joe Parkin Daniels in Bogotá, Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro and David Agren in Matamoros report:
The scene in Rio de Janeiro was as though much of 2020 had never happened.
The beaches at Ipanema and Copacabana heaved with visitors, the white sand obscured by bronzed bodies, sun loungers and parasols, as locals enjoyed the blistering 38C heat.
Even though Brazil has experienced the third largest Covid-19 outbreak in the world, behind the US and India, the vast majority of bathers ignored social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines altogether.
“Things have to go back to normal,” said Raniel Braga, who said that – after a desperately slow first half of the year – business at his paddle board rental on Copacabana beach was picking up again. “Like it or not, we’re going to have to live with this virus for a while.
“People who go to the beach are those who feel safe,” he said, as unmasked police officers surveyed the crowds. “People who are scared don’t go to the beach.”
But while Braga is delighted that Rio’s beaches are packed once again, international health officials are worried. This week, the World Health Organization said countries across Latin America were rushing back to normality prematurely – a mistake that could prove catastrophic in a region that already accounts for a third of global pandemic deaths.
Read more

Lockdown measures and rising anger in Madrid as Covid-19 takes hold again
Sam Jones - The Guardian
People in the queue to be tested for Covid-19 at the Buenos Aires health centre in south Madrid on Friday morning were met with a bleak but polite homemade sign.
It still bore the previous day’s information, spelled out in marker pen: consultations – by phone and in person – 483; Covid consultations, 19; PCR tests, 78; and number of staff absent, 13.
Clipped beneath was another note: “We’re doing all we can to look after you. Sorry for the disruption.”
The board’s plaintive message is echoing across many of the poorest parts of the Madrid region as the second wave of coronavirus batters Spain and once again threatens to overwhelm the health system in and around the capital.
During the past two weeks, Spain has reported more than 122,000 new Covid-19 cases, more than a third of them in the Madrid region. The number of cases per 100,000 people stands at 259.76 across Spain as a whole. In Madrid, the figure rises to 659.41, and in Puente de Vallecas, the district served by the Buenos Aires medical centre, it is 1,241.
Read more

Dublin brought under tighter Covid-19 restrictions
Tighter Covid-19 restrictions have come into force in Dublin in an effort to stem rising levels of the virus.
The new rules came into force in the city and surrounding county at midnight on Friday.
For the next three weeks, people will be discouraged from leaving the city and county unless for essential reasons.
They are being asked to work from home where possible and only to make essential journeys on public transport.
In Dublin city visitors to private homes and gardens should be limited to a maximum number of six from one other household.
There are to be no organised indoor gatherings and outdoor gatherings are to be up to a maximum of 15.
Restaurants and pubs that had been serving food will only be allowed to cater outdoors, to a maximum of 14 people, or provide a take-away service.

'Will save lives'

Pubs in the rest of the Republic, regardless of whether they serve food, will be allowed to open on Monday.
Only elite sporting fixtures are being allowed to take place. Sports training can continue but only outdoors and in pods of up to 15 while gym classes have been suspended.
Funeral attendances are capped at 25 and the same cap will be introduced for weddings from Monday.
The new rules are based on recommendations from public health officials at the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).
The city and county is being moved from level two to level three of the country's five-level alert system. The government decides when to move between levels based on advice from the NPHET.
Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin said that without action there was a real threat Dublin could return to the worst days of the crisis.
"I know the restrictions will make many people angry but we have very clear advice that they will save lives," said Mr Martin.
Three further deaths and 253 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed on Friday - 116 of them were in Dublin.
It brings the total number of coronavirus deaths to 1,792 in the country.

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Placing Dublin at level three has the following implications for those living or working in Dublin:

• Visitors to private homes and gardens should be limited to a maximum number of six from one other household.
  
• No social/family gatherings should take place, with exemptions to this for weddings and funerals (see below).
  
• No organised indoor gatherings should take place. Organised outdoor gatherings are permitted, up to a maximum of 15 people.
  
• People living in Dublin should remain in the county (i.e. they must not leave Dublin to travel either domestically or internationally), with the exception of those who must travel for work, education and other essential purposes.
  
• People living outside of Dublin should not travel to Dublin, with the exception of those who must travel for work, education and other essential purposes.
  
• People working in Dublin are asked to work from home unless absolutely necessary.
  
• Schools, Early Learning and Childcare services should remain open. Adult and Higher Education Institutions should remain open, but are asked to review protective measures and take steps to limit congregation as much as possible.
  
• People are asked to walk or cycle where possible so that public transport is available for use by essential workers and for essential travel only.
  

PM considering new restrictions amid second coronavirus wave

Boris Johnson is spending the weekend considering whether to tighten Covid-19 measures in England, after saying the UK was "now seeing a second wave".
The government is understood to be looking at a ban on households mixing, and reducing opening hours for pubs.
At least 13.5 million people, roughly one in five of the UK population, are already facing local restrictions.
Former government adviser Prof Neil Ferguson said new measures were needed "sooner rather than later".
The scientist, whose advice was crucial to the decision to go into lockdown in March, said: "If we leave it another two to four weeks, we will be back at [infection] levels we were seeing more like mid-March.
"That's clearly going to cause deaths because people will be hospitalised," he told the BBC.

• ‘Another lockdown would be disastrous for our business’
  
• Further Covid-19 measures 'likely' in London
  

Mr Johnson only has direct power over restrictions in England. The devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can set their own rules.
Widespread growth of the virus has been recorded across the country, with cases doubling every seven to eight days.
There were a further 4,322 confirmed cases on Friday - the first time the daily total of positive tests has exceeded 4,000 since 8 May.
In Bolton, one returning holidaymaker, who did not self-isolate and instead went on a pub crawl, is being partly blamed for the town's spike in cases.
Meanwhile, governments across Europe have announced new restrictions to tackle the surge in infections.

• Can a 'circuit break' halt the second Covid wave?
  
• My neighbours are breaking the rules - what should I say?
  

Speaking on Friday, Mr Johnson said he did not "want to go into bigger lockdown measures" but that tighter social distancing rules might be necessary.
He added: "Clearly when you look at what is happening, you have got to wonder whether we need to go further than the rule of six that we brought in on Monday."

The government is understood to be considering a short period of tighter rules across England - "a circuit break" - which could involve closing hospitality venues.
However, schools and workplaces would stay open.
No 10 is also looking at limiting the opening hours of pubs and restaurants across the country, as has already happened in many areas of north-east England, where pubs had to close at 22:00 BST on Friday.
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner called for the government to hold an emergency Cobra meeting, look at the science and improve its communication so "people can do the right thing".
"If the government are able to do that, we will back them," she told the BBC.
She also said it had been "shocking" to see how "monumentally" the government's test and trace system had failed.

• Covid symptoms: Is it a cold, flu or coronavirus?
  
• UK coronavirus cases up by 4,322 on Friday
  

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford are also calling for a Cobra meeting.
Ms Sturgeon said the next few days would be "critical" to avoid another full-scale lockdown in Scotland.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was extremely concerned by evidence of the accelerating speed with which coronavirus was spreading in the capital.
"We will be considering some of the measures which have already been imposed in other parts of the UK," he said.
"I am of the firm view that we should not wait, as happened six months ago, for this virus to again spiral out of control before taking action."

'Rule-breaking Bolton pub crawl' saw cases rise

A returning holidaymaker who went on a pub crawl instead of self-isolating was partly responsible for Bolton's "extreme spike" in coronavirus cases, the town's council leader said.
David Greenhalgh said the man tested positive for Covid-19 two days after the night out with friends in the town.
He said Bolton's high rate had been linked back to pubs and a "cohort of people" who refused to follow guidance.
It is currently subject to tighter restrictions to halt the rise.
Mr Greenhalgh told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the spike "took us by surprise as we were arguing to have a further easing of restrictions at the time".
He said: "We had an extreme spike where we went from 12 cases per 100,000 and in less than three weeks we were up at 212 cases."

'Number of mates'

The rise led Bolton to have the highest rates of Covid-19 in the country.
"We had somebody who did not adhere to quarantine, did not stay the 14 days, literally went on a pub crawl with a number of mates," Mr Greenhalgh said.
"From that incident which took place over a weekend - (they) visited a number of premises - led to a large number of individual transmissions from that one person which you can imagine then is like holding back the tide because he then became symptomatic two days after they had all gone on this pub crawl.
"That is four or five days where all the people he was in contact with have been going about their normal day-to-day business."
Bolton is now subject to tougher measures than most of England, with hospitality venues only allowed to operate as takeaways and ordered to shut by 22:00.