Coronavirus - 10th October

Summary for Saturday, 10th October
(The Guardian)

What we've learned so far today

A summary of today’s events.

• In Australia, the state of Victoria recorded 14 new cases, dashing hopes of a planned reopening on 19 October.
  
• There were two local cases in the neighbouring state of New South Wales, as leaders there clashed with Queensland over its closed border.
  
• The United States president, Donald Trump, said he felt “very strong” in his first on-camera interview since he caught Covid.
  
• But the second United States presidential debate was officially cancelled after Trump declined to take part if the event was held virtually.
  
• France is struggling to subdue a vicious second wave. The country recorded more than 20,000 new infections in the past 24 hours. Across Europe, there were 100,000 new cases recorded for the first time.
  
• In a similarly grim milestone, the WHO reported more than 350,000 new cases on Friday.
  

Trump plans in-person rally on Monday as next presidential debate cancelled; Europe records 100,000 daily cases for first time; Canada at ‘tipping point’. Follow latest updates

• Europe: Spain declares emergency in Madrid as Berlin emerges as hotspot
  
• UK workers to get two-thirds of wages if firms told to shut
  
• Australia: Is Victoria ready to come out of lockdown?
  
• US presidential debate cancelled – live updates
  

Peru reports 2,151 new cases and 238 deaths

The ministry of health in Peru has said the country recorded 2,151 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours.
Over the same period, there were 238 deaths linked to Covid-19.
Overall, the Andean country has recorded 843,355 cases and 33,158 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Currently, 6,544 people are hospitalised due to the virus, according to Informa Europa Press.

Fines in Australia for lockdown breaches
Police in the Australian state of Victoria have issued fines after detecting an unauthorised party in locked-down Melbourne.
Officers were called to the birthday party of 20 people in the suburb of Bentleigh, where they found loud music and no one wearing masks or social distancing.
AAP reports that several guests climbed onto the roofs of neighbouring buildings and fled, police said.
But they caught four people hiding on a roof and fined them when they came down.
Thirteen partygoers were fined $1,652 each.

Ukraine records 108 new deaths from Covid

The number of daily coronavirus deaths in Ukraine has exceeded 100 for the first time since the epidemic began, jumping to 108, the national security council said on Saturday, Reuters reports.
The previous record of 93 deaths was registered on 8 October. The council said a total of 256,266 cases had been registered in Ukraine as of 10 October, with 4,887 deaths and 112,570 people recovered.
The government said on Friday it would open more hospitals to accept coronavirus patients amid a recent spike in cases.
It is also mulling ways to toughen lockdown measures, which have been gradually eased since June to help the economy, which plunged 11.4% in the second quarter.

Tighter lockdown restrictions expected in the UK
In the United Kingdom, the mayor of Liverpool has told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he expects the city will be put in a tier three lockdown within days.
Joe Anderson said: 

:Left Quotes: We had some conversations with Downing Street yesterday, we have got further conversations, discussions with them this afternoon.
And I expect that Liverpool will be one of those announced. We will be in the local lockdown, new local lockdown, which is announced, which will probably be, well, will be tier three, and that that will be enacted in Parliament on Tuesday.
We are continuing the discussions and conversations today.

Germany records 4,721 new cases

Germany recorded 4,721 new cases over the past 24 hours, and another 15 deaths, according to the country’s Instituto Robert Koch (RKI).
The new infections are an increase on the approximately 4,500 cases reported on Friday.

India reports 73,000 new cases, nearly 1,000 deaths

The ministry of health in India has said there were 73,272 new infections in the country over the past 24 hours.
There were also 926 new deaths, taking the death toll to 107,416. It is the seventh straight day where deaths have been below 1,000.
The country is averaging about 70,000 cases daily, down from a peak of 97,894 new cases mid-September.

France struggles to contain virus spread as Europe spikes

France is now experiencing a sharp rise in cases and is one of several countries in Europe struggling to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Reuters reports new infections in France jumped more than 20,000 in one day for the first time. This from the news agency.

The country’s ministry reported 20,330 new infections, taking the cumulative total to 691,977 since the start of the year.
In the past two days the ministry had reported more than 18,000 daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases.

On Thursday, France’s health minister said that Lyon - the country’s third-biggest city - and three other cities will have to close their bars in coming days, as Paris and Marseille have done, in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.
The number of deaths from the virus increased by 109 to 32,630, the most in a week but below highs of around 150 seen earlier this month.
The death toll figures can be skewed as the ministry often reports several days of senior citizen residence data in one batch.
The number of people in hospital jumped by another 240 to 7,864 nationwide and the number of people in intensive care units - the best measure of a health system’s ability to deal with the epidemic -rose by 21 to 1,448.
At the height of the crisis in early April, more than 7,000 people were in intensive care with COVID.

A China update from Reuters
Mainland China reported 15 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus on 9 October, down from 21 a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Saturday.
All the new cases were imported infections involving travellers from overseas, the National Health Commission said in a statement.
The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, rose to 39 from 15 a day earlier. All of them were imported.
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 85,536, while the death toll remains unchanged at 4,634.

The Philippines’ health ministry on Saturday recorded 2,249 new coronavirus infections and 87 additional deaths, Reuters reports.
The ministry said total confirmed cases in the Philippines had increased to 336,926, the highest in south-east Asia, while deaths have reached 6,238.

Russia’s coronavirus cases rose by 12,846 on Saturday, a new daily record since the start of the outbreak early this year, pushing the overal total number of infections to 1,285,084, Reuters reports.
The previous record of 12,126 new cases was registered on Friday.
Russia’s coronavirus crisis center said 197 more deaths were confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the official death toll to 22,454.

Indonesia reported 4,294 new coronavirus infections on Saturday to bring the total tally of 328,952, data from the country’s Covid-19 task force showed, Reuters reports.
The south-east Asia country also reported 88 more people have died from the virus, the lowest daily number in a week. Indonesia’s total number of coronavirus deaths now stands at 11,765.

Poland reported a record 5,300 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, according to health ministry data published on Twitter, as new restrictions including wearing masks outside at all times go into effect, Reuters reports.
Poland has now recorded 121,638 confirmed coronavirus cases and 2,972 deaths.

North of England leaders 'not consulted' on local Covid lockdowns
Mayors and council leaders in the north of England have criticised the government for failing to consult them on local lockdown measures, as they brace for further restrictions expected to be announced next week.
The mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, accused the government of treating the city with disdain, saying new lockdown measures were being “imposed”.
Anderson said he expected Liverpool to be placed under tier-three measures, the highest of the government’s proposed tiered lockdown system. Tier-three measures are expected to include preventing all social contact between different households, restricting overnight stays away from home, and banning organised non-professional sports and communal hobby groups.
The mayor said he expected further discussion with the government on Saturday afternoon, but that he had not been consulted over the decisions.
Anderson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:

:Left Quotes:  Now we are engaged in a conversation that’s telling us that these decisions have been made, so that’s … a conversation, not a consultation
But the main point of the imposition of the measures are clearly that: imposition. We have not been consulted.

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Malaysia reported 374 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, a slight increase from the previous day, Reuters reports, as health officials ramp up contact tracing in Sabah state, where a large number of cases have been detected over the past few weeks.
The new cases raise the cumulative tally to 15,096 cases, according to the health ministry. There were three new deaths reported, raising the toll to 155.

Brazil’s hard-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, dismissed Covid-19 as a “little flu”, and said it should be faced “like a man, not a boy”.
He sneered that self-isolating was “for the weak” and raged against lockdown measures. He clashed with state governors, and his own former health minister savaged his handling of the pandemic.
But as Brazil counts nearly 5 million Covid-19 cases and more than 147,000 dead, Bolsonaro is more popular than ever.
Like his idol Donald Trump, the populist Brazilian leader caught the virus and emerged apparently unscathed. But while the US president trails Joe Biden in the polls, Bolsonaro’s government has hit a record 40% approval rating.
Much of that popularity is down to monthly emergency aid payments of £83 ($108) – or £166 ($217) for single mothers – that about 67 million Brazilians began receiving in April.
Giselly Andrade, 34, worked as a cashier until her second child, Gabriel, five, was born with microcephaly. She lives in Recife, in the state of Pernambuco – the poor north-east region that has traditionally been the electoral heartland of the leftwing Workers’ party, which ruled Brazil from 2003-2016. Now, however, support for Bolsonaro is growing in the region, where 65% have received emergency aid.
Andrade is one of them – and the payments helped change her view of the president.
She said:

:Left Quotes:  I didn’t expect this of him.
People said he only thought about himself [but] he’s shown the opposite.” Andrade spoiled her vote in 2018 but said she would now vote for Bolsonaro when he runs for re-election in 2022.
He’s been working, thinking of the people.

Read more

Coronavirus world map: which countries have the most Covid cases and deaths?
Covid-19 has spread around the planet, sending billions of people into lockdown as health services struggle to cope. Find out where the virus has spread, and where it has been most deadly.  HERE

Liverpool to go into tier 3 lockdown on Wednesday

Molly Blackall - The Guardian
Steve Rotheram, the mayor of the Liverpool metro region, said the government would announce on Monday that the city will go into tier 3 lockdown on Wednesday.
He said:

 :Left Quotes:  Most journalists will understand our incredulity and dismay at having to have a press conference.
Our priority has ... we will support measures no matter how politically difficult they might be to support our residents.

He added the government is “refusing the scientific rationale” behind the decisions and people in their areas are “very confused”.
Rotheram said he learnt about the city is going into a higher tier from national newspapers.
The government intends to lay measures out on Monday that Liverpool will go into Tter 3 on Wednesday, Rotheram said. “They’re trying to work out what this is, they’ll meet with government today.”

All three mayors, Driscoll, Burnham, and Jarvis, say they support the Labour leader, Keir Starmer’s, comment at the Co-operative party conference this afternoon, that the prime minister, Boris Johnson, has presided over “serial incompetence” during the coronavirus crisis.
Burnham said “at times it feels like they’re running a PR campaign rather than a public health campaign”.

:Left Quotes: I’ve been at pains throughout this to say I’ve been in government dealing with the pandemic. There’s no perfect response and I don’t envy the government.
But things being briefed to newspapers or issued late at night without explanation or detail, and those things really affect people in a fundamental way. That is incompetence in my view, and it’s serial because it keeps happening.

Spain’s far-right Vox party said it would lodge a court appeal against a partial lockdown imposed on Madrid, as thousands of police on Saturday enforced curbs intended to contain one of Europe’s worst coronavirus outbreaks.
Reuters reports:

:Left Quotes:  Vox leader Santiago Abascal also called for demonstrations against the restrictions, implemented on Friday by the government via a state of emergency.

“I have given instructions to appeal to the Constitutional Court (against) the illegal state of emergency,” he tweeted late on Friday.

Abascal’s move escalates a standoff between Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the conservative-led Madrid regional government, on which Vox holds 12 of 132 seats, and which argues that the government’s curbs are illegal and excessive and will spell disaster for the local economy.

The restrictions include a ban on leaving locked-down areas other than for work, school or medical reasons. Around 7,000 police were deployed on roads, rail stations and at airports to make sure 3.8 million people affected in the capital city and eight satellite towns abided by them, the interior ministry said.

Portugal reports 1,646 new cases of coronavirus, highest daily figure since start of pandemic

Portugal reported 1,646 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, the highest daily figure since the start of the pandemic, Reuters reports citing the health authority.
The country of 10 million people surpassed 1,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time since April on Thursday.

Wales reports 627 new cases
There have been a further 627 cases of Covid-19 in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 29,654.
PA reports:

:Left Quotes:  Public Health Wales said on Saturday a further 21 deaths had been reported, taking the total number of related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic to 1,667.
But it added that the large increase was the result of a delay in incorporating 17 deaths that occurred in the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board area between October 3-7.

People caught flouting coronavirus rules in Indonesia are being made to dig graves as part of community service to deter others from transgressing.
The punishments in East Java and Jakarta, to those who choose not to pay a fine of 150.000 IDR (£7.90), come amid rising infections in the archipelago with the highest coronavirus death rate in Southeast Asia.
If they choose to do community service rather than pay the fine, people receive a high-viz jacket with “violator” written on the back. They are then driven on a truck with others who have broken Covid rules to a cemetery, where they are reportedly asked to dig graves and tidy, as loudspeakers on the vehicle inform those in the vicinity that those onboard have broken the regulations.
“When I wear a motorbike helmet, it’s difficult to wear a mask. It was hurting my ears,” a man named Elkat told Sky News. “This is my fault and cleaning the grave is ok.”

A further 60 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 30,439, NHS England said on Saturday.
Patients were aged between 41 and 93 years old. All but five patients, aged 72 to 86, had known underlying health conditions.
The deaths were between 30 March and 9 October, but most were on or after 7 October.
Seven other deaths were reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.

Spain’s Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez appealed for unity on Saturday after the far-right Vox party said it would take legal action against a partial lockdown imposed on Madrid to contain one of Europe’s worst coronavirus outbreaks.
Vox, which is echoing the conservative-led Madrid regional authority’s opposition to the new restrictions implemented via a state of emergency, has also called for protests.
The measures affecting 3.8 million people in the Spanish capital and eight satellite towns include a ban on non-essential travel except for work, school or medical reasons.
Around 7,000 police are deployed to ensure compliance.
Vox leader Santiago Abascal said his party, Spain’s third largest, would appeal in the constitutional court against the “illegal” state of emergency.
Opponents say the measures in Madrid are excessive and will crush the economy, Reuters reports.

Spain and Portugal announced a series of measures on Saturday to strengthen cross-border cooperation, including better access to health and social services for citizens living along their shared 1,200km (750-mile) border.
Following an annual summit in Guarda, Portugal, the prime ministers of both countries said a new identity card would allow people working on the other side of the border to access health services there.
The measures are aimed at helping 1.6 million Portuguese and 3.4 million Spanish inhabitants along the border, which comprises some of the poorest districts in both countries.

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More than 36.93 million people have been reported to be infected with coronavirus globally and at least 1,067,766 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

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Covid in Scotland: Barlinnie prisoners locked down after outbreak
More than 250 inmates are in lockdown at Glasgow's Barlinnie prison after four members of staff and two prisoners tested positive for coronavirus.
Twelve staff are also isolating in the jail's A hall, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) confirmed.
All visits to the locked-down hall have been suspended until the end of October.
An SPS spokesman said the rest of the prison was not affected by the outbreak or visiting ban.
He added that contact tracing was being carried out for staff members.
Earlier this year, the Scottish government approved new early release regulations to help the prison system cope with Covid cases.
The move, designed to free up more cells for single-use occupancy, could allow up to 450 inmates to get out of prison early.
But only those sentenced to 18 months or less and with 90 days or less left to serve are potentially eligible. Some serious offences are excluded.

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US president Donald Trump will on Saturday hold his first public event since being diagnosed with Covid-19 more than a week ago, aiming to show he has beaten the virus and is ready to resume campaigning, although questions remain about his health.
Trump is expected to make remarks from a White House balcony to a crowd of hundreds on the lawn below, an event the White House described as “a peaceful protest for law & order.”
The president revealed his positive coronavirus test on 2 October and spent three nights in hospital before returning to the White House on Monday.
He has not said whether he is still contagious, only that he is no longer showing symptoms of the virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans.
A White House spokeswoman said on Friday that Trump will be tested for coronavirus and will not go out in public if it is determined he can still spread the virus.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported 7,641,502 cases of coronavirus, an increase of 58,302 cases from its previous count a day earlier, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 926 to 213,037.

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Six coronavirus clusters have cropped up in Brooklyn and Queens, as well as Broome, Orange and Rockland counties, Reuters reports.
The state has closed schools and nonessential businesses in those areas and limited gatherings.
“It’s going to take the work of all of us now to make sure we don’t go backwards on our hard-fought progress,” Cuomo said in a statement.
“We must all continue to wear our masks, wash our hands, remain socially distant, and above all, stay New York Tough.”
The number of New Yorkers hospitalised with the coronavirus continues to rise, state governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday, as authorities heightened their focus on banning mass gatherings in Covid-19 hot spots.
Cuomo announced that 826 people were hospitalised with the virus — the highest number since 15 July.
Eight further coronavirus deaths were recorded in New York on Friday.

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Gazans struggle with pandemic and blockade
From the start of the pandemic, there were warnings that if Covid-19 reached Gaza, it could be disastrous.
The overcrowded Palestinian territory, governed by the Islamist group Hamas, has a broken economy and weak healthcare.
It’s kept under blockade by Israel and Egypt and more families are being left in extreme poverty.

Ireland reported 1,012 new coronavirus cases on Saturday
The highest daily figure since April and up from an average of 523 over the previous seven days, health department data showed.
On Tuesday, the Irish government ratcheted up nationwide coronavirus restrictions as the Republic is gripped in a second surge of infections.
From midnight on Tuesday residents were asked to stay in their county of residence and organised indoor events were cancelled.
Restaurants and pubs have been barred from serving customers indoors, employees encouraged to attend workplaces “only if absolutely necessary” and religious services have been moved online.

Demonstrators hold a banner during a protest against the Irish government imposed restrictions put in place to help stem the rise in the number of new coronavirus cases, outside Leinster House in Dublin on 10 October, 2020

France reports record 26,000 new cases in one day

The number of new coronavirus infections in France jumped over 26,000 in one day for the first time since the start of the pandemic, health ministry data showed on Saturday.
The ministry reported 26,896 new infections, taking the cumulative total to 718,873 since the start of the year.
The number of deaths from the virus increased by 54 to 32,684.