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    Coronavirus - 29th November

    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    Coronavirus - 29th November Empty Coronavirus - 29th November

    Post by Kitkat Sun 29 Nov 2020, 11:14

    Summary for Sunday, 29th September

    Here are the latest developments so far today:

    • Britain has secured an additional two million doses of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine candidate, meaning it will have access to enough doses of the vaccine for around 3.5 million people. Overall, it has access to 357 million doses of vaccines from seven different developers.
    • North Korea is further toughening restrictions on entering seawaters as part of elevated steps to fight the coronavirus pandemic, state media said Sunday, two days after South Korea said the North had banned sea fishing. 
    • South Korean authorities will consider tighter social distancing restrictions on Sunday to clamp down on economic activities after last week saw the fastest spread of infections since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
    • Brazil has registered 51,922 additional coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours and 587 new deaths, according to the country’s health ministry.
    • Mexico reported 10,008 new confirmed coronavirus infections and 586 additional deaths on Saturday. This brings the official number of cases to 1,100,683 with a total death toll of 105,459.
    • The Australian state of Victoria, which has recorded 30 days with no confirmed coronavirus cases, has eased some of its restrictions. From 11.59pm tonight, businesses will be allowed to open their workplaces to a quarter of their employees.
    • South Australian health authorities are urging anyone who visited several “high-risk” locations to get tested for coronavirus immediately, after a Covid-19-positive man broke his required home quarantine in Adelaide.
    • Brazil has registered 51,922 additional coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours and 587 new deaths, according to the country’s health ministry. In total, Brazil has now registered 6,290,272 total confirmed infectionss and 172,561 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
    • Victoria, in south-east Australia, recorded its 30th consecutive day without a new Covid-19 cases, with no lives lost on Saturday and just under 6,000 tests conducted. New South Wales has also now gone 22 days without any local transmission.
    • Greece reported 121 coronavirus-related deaths, a daily record, with hospitals in the north of the country under pressure as intensive care beds fill up.
    • Turkey’s daily Covid-19 death toll hit a record high for a sixth consecutive day, with the health ministry recording 182 fatalities within the last 24 hours.
    • In the UK, a further 479 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Saturday, down from 521 the previous day. On Saturday, 155 people were arrested at anti-lockdown protests in central London, with offences including breaching coronavirus regulations, assaulting a police officer and possession of drugs.


    A year after Wuhan alarm, China seeks to change Covid origin story

    Nearly a year after doctors identified the first cases of a worrying new disease in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the country appears to be stepping up a campaign to question the origins of the global Covid-19 pandemic, report Emma Graham-Harrison and Robin McKie.
    State media has been reporting intensively on coronavirus discovered on packaging of frozen food imports, not considered a significant vector of infection elsewhere, and research into possible cases of the disease found outside China’s borders before December 2019.
    The official People’s Daily newspaper claimed in a Facebook post last week that “all available evidence suggests that the coronavirus did not start in central China’s Wuhan”.
    A foreign ministry spokesman, asked about state media reports that the virus originated outside China, said only that it was important to distinguish between where Covid-19 was first detected and where it crossed the species barrier to infect humans.
    “Although China was the first to report cases, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the virus originated in China,” Zhao Lijian told a briefing. “Origin tracing is an ongoing process that may involve multiple countries and regions.”
    Chinese scientists have even submitted a paper for publication to the Lancet – although it has not yet been peer-reviewed – that claims “Wuhan is not the place where human-to-human Sars-CoV-2 transmission first happened”, suggesting instead that the first case may have been in the “Indian subcontinent”.
    Claims that the virus had origins outside China are given little credence by western scientists. Michael Ryan, director of the health emergencies programme at the World Health Organization (WHO), said last week that it would be “highly speculative” to argue that the disease did not emerge in China.

    South Korea mulls stricter virus restrictions

    South Korean authorities will consider tighter social distancing restrictions on Sunday to clamp down on economic activities after last week saw the fastest spread of infections since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, Reuters news agency has reported.
    Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun is to meet with health authority officials this afternoon to decide whether virus curbs need to be tightened further to slow transmissions.
    South Korea reported 450 infections on Sunday after reporting more than 500 new coronavirus cases for three days in a row, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
    This third wave marks the highest level of infections in nearly nine months.
    South Korea on Tuesday began applying Level 2 social distancing rules, the third-highest in the country’s five-tier system, in greater Seoul area.

    UK secures additional two million doses of Moderna vaccine

    Britain will have access to a further two million doses of Moderna Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate, Reuters news agency has reported.
    Following the latest deal, Britain has access to enough doses of Moderna’s vaccine candidate for around 3.5 million people. Overall, it has access to 357 million doses of vaccines from 7 different developers, according to a government statement.
    “With a wide range of vaccine candidates in our portfolio, we stand ready to deploy a vaccine should they receive approval from our medicines regulator, starting with those who will benefit most,” Britain’s health minister, Matt Hancock, said in the statement.

    Cambodia's first instance of community transmission

    Cambodian president Hun Sen has advised the public to avoid large gatherings after the wife of a government official tested positive for Covid-19. He has described the case as the first instance of community transmission, according to local media.
    The government is tracing anyone who had contact with the woman, including in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Banteay Meanchey and Mondulkiri provinces. Cambodia has so far managed to avoid a major outbreak, with the government reporting 309 cases.
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    Post by Kitkat Sun 29 Nov 2020, 11:44

    UK Newspapers

    Coronavirus - 29th November _1156810

    Several of Sunday's papers lead with the unfolding drama within the Tory party ahead of a Commons vote on Tuesday on the tougher tier system. Conservative MPs have hit back at Michael Gove's claims that hospitals could become "overwhelmed" by coronavirus cases, accusing the government of exaggerating capacity problems, the Observer says. The paper says it has been told by some Tory MPs that health minister Nadine Dorries said last week that the Nightingale hospitals remained largely unfilled as people thought they were "dark and dingy". Sources close to Ms Dorries denied she used the exact terms recalled by the MPs, the paper adds.
    Coronavirus - 29th November _1156810

    Dominating the Sunday People's front page is a plea from nurses and MPs for Nightingale hospitals to open following a surge in Covid intensive care admissions. There are growing calls, the paper says, to use the seven emergency units built for £220m during the first wave of the pandemic.
    Coronavirus - 29th November _1156811

    In a bid to placate his MPs and head off a rebellion in the Commons, Boris Johnson has said the new tier system could end in just nine weeks, the Sunday Telegraph reports. Writing to Conservative MPs, the prime minister has said he will allow the Commons to vote again on the new tiers in late January. The paper says the move will be seen as a "major concession" after up to 100 Tory MPs threatened to go against the government's plan. Meanwhile, the paper says, Treasury ministers are hoping a quick economic recovery mid-2021 will mean that any significant tax rises can be delayed until the following year.
    Coronavirus - 29th November _1156812

    The Sunday Times calls the PM's letter to MPs "a sign of disarray in Downing Street" as Mr Johnson tries to assuage Tory concerns over the new measures. Mr Johnson said the new rules will be scrapped completely in February unless MPs want them to continue, in a bid to reassure his party the tougher restrictions will not be in place until Easter. "Johnson in retreat" is how the paper characterises the PM's actions.
    Coronavirus - 29th November _1156813

    The Sunday Express adds that, should Labour vote against Mr Johnson's plan, just 40 Tory rebels would be needed to defeat the government.
    Coronavirus - 29th November _1156814

    And Conservatives aren't the only ones the PM has to appeal to ahead of the new measures coming into effect, the Mail on Sunday reports, as he urges Britons not to "blow it" in the battle against coronavirus by flouting the restrictions. Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he asked people not to "jump the fence now" in a bid to reach "the sunlit upland pastures ahead".
    Coronavirus - 29th November _1156815

    Elsewhere, the Sunday Mirror lead with an interview with Aseel Muthana, a man from Cardiff who is being held in Syria and is accused of persuading dozens of people to join the so-called Islamic State group. He says he has human rights and should be allowed to return to the UK, the paper says.
    Coronavirus - 29th November _1156816

    And finally, the Daily Star Sunday says special forces the Special Air Service and the Special Boat Service went head-to-head "to see who is the toughest", settling their dispute with a baking competition.

    There is mutiny in the air, according to the front pages.
    The Sunday Telegraph talks of the biggest rebellion of Boris Johnson's premiership, with up to 100 backbenchers threatening to vote against his new coronavirus measures.
    The Sunday Times believes the prime minister has already "capitulated" by signalling millions of people facing the toughest restrictions will see them eased in just over two weeks.
    For his part, Mr Johnson has written an article in the Mail on Sunday urging the people of Britain not to flout the new rules.
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    Post by Kitkat Sun 29 Nov 2020, 12:00

    In the Philippines, people living under general community quarantine have been told that all Christmas gatherings will be limited to 10 people.
    Seven areas remain under the restrictions, including the national capital region Metro Manila. Tomorrow, president Rodrigo Duterte will announce which areas will maintain such measures for the month of December.
    The country has so far recorded 427,797 cases and 8,333 deaths, according to data collated by Johns Hopkins University.



    The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 14,611 to 1,042,700, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday. The reported death toll rose by 158 to 16,123, the tally showed.



    A Chinese factory owned by South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix Inc halted operations on Sunday after a plant worker was found to have an asymptomatic infection of the coronavirus.
    The Korean worker based at the plant in Chongqing city since February had departed on Thursday for South Korea, according to Reuters, which cited the official Xinhua news agency. He was tested at Incheon airport in Seoul and confirmed positive for Covid-19 on Saturday, it reported.
    All factory staff as well as staff and recent guests at the hotel where the worker lived have been isolated and given nucleic acid tests, the news agency said.
    “We’re cooperating with the local government on their containment efforts, and at the same time trying to resume production as soon as possible,” said a spokesman at SK Hynix.
    He declined to comment on the impact the suspension would have.
    SK Hynix, the world’s No.2 memory chip maker, employs about 2,700 workers in the Chongqing facility, including some Koreans.
    The city has carried out nucleic acid tests on 3,283 people, with 2,674 found negative, Xinhua said. Almost 500 environmental samples had also been collected, and all found negative.
    As of Saturday, mainland China had a total of 86,512 confirmed coronavirus cases, it said. China’s death toll from the coronavirus remained unchanged at 4,634.



    A rising coronavirus caseload is pushing hospitals in the Balkans to the cusp of collapse, Agence France-Presse has reported.
    After nearly a year of keeping outbreaks more or less under control, infections have begun to increase. The Western Balkans, one of Europe’s poorest corners, has seen its death toll double in the last month alone to reach nearly 10,000.
    “The situation reminds me of the war, and I’m afraid it could get even worse during the winter,” the doctor, who requested anonymity, told AFP.
    The crisis is exposing gaps in healthcare systems that have long suffered from low funding and a brain drain crisis, with an exodus of promising young doctors and nurses leaving to seek better wages and training abroad.
    Even before the pandemic began, the Balkans had some of the lowest density rates of doctors in Europe, according to World Health Organization data.
    Hospitals are now facing further shortages as staff fall victim to the respiratory disease.




    Indonesia has reported a record rise in coronavirus inections, after 6,267 new cases and 169 deaths, according to its Covid-19 task force.
    Tweet  Matthew Tostevin:

    Indonesia marks yet another grim #coronavirus record today with 6,267 new cases and 169 deaths
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    Post by Kitkat Sun 29 Nov 2020, 12:07

    Russia reported 26,683 new coronavirus cases on Sunday after the number of daily confirmed infections hit a record 27,543 on Friday.
    The new cases took the national total to 2,269,316. The coronavirus crisis center confirmed deaths of 459 coronavirus patients in the last 24 hours, pushing the Russian death toll to 39,527.




    In the Czech Republic, the government will allow restaurants and non-essential shops to reopen on Thursday, December 3, as the current wave of the coronavirus pandemic eases, Health Mister Jan Blatny said today.
    The country will move down one notch to level 3 on its 5-level risk scale, which means all shops and restaurants can open but must limit customer numbers to allow for social distancing. A night-time curfew will be lifted and limited sports activities can resume.
    In the Old Town Square in Prague, the Christmas tree is going up, but there will be no Christmas market this year.




    In South Korea authorities have announced a ban on year-end parties and some music lessons on Sunday and said public saunas and some cafes must also close after coronavirus infections surged at their fastest pace since the early days of the pandemic.
    From Reuters:
    South Korea has been one of the world’s coronavirus mitigation success stories but spikes in infections have reappeared relentlessly, triggering alarm in Asia’s four-largest economy.
    Authorities reported 450 new infections on Sunday after more than 500 cases were recorded for three days in a row, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.
    What authorities are calling a third wave of infections is spreading at the fastest rate in nearly nine months, driven by outbreaks at military facilities, a sauna, a high school and churches.
    Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said restrictions would be tightened on gatherings and activities seen as prone to virus transmission, especially in the capital Seoul and surrounding urban areas. Chung told a briefing after meeting health officials:
    :Left Quotes: Year-end events and parties hosted by hotels, party rooms, guest houses and other accommodation facilities will be banned outright.
    Saunas and steam-bath rooms with a high risk of mass infection would also be banned as would the teaching of wind musical instruments and singing, he said.
    For rest of the country, social distancing rules would also be tightened from Tuesday, he said.
    Separately, Chung said the government was talking to parliament about the possibility of new relief funds for households and businesses, which would be the third this year, as the economy struggles. He said:
    :Left Quotes: Our assessment is that we need the third crisis support fund ... The government will come up with a conclusion on this after discussing with both the ruling and opposition parties.
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    Post by Kitkat Sun 29 Nov 2020, 12:11

    England at risk of third Covid wave in new year, says Raab

    England is at risk of a third wave of coronavirus in the new year if the right balance is not struck on restrictions, Dominic Raab has warned, as Downing Street faces an angry rebellion from Tory MPs on its strengthened tiers measures.
    The foreign secretary also refused to rule out the prospect of a third nationwide lockdown next year. The Commons will vote on Tuesday on whether to approve the three-tier system replacing the national lockdown.
    Boris Johnson wrote to Tory MPs on Saturday in an attempt to head off a potential rebellion, saying the new regulations will have a “sunset” clause meaning they will end on 3 February, will be reviewed every fortnight until then, and will only continue with MPs’ approval.
    Further analysis of the health, economic and social impacts of Covid and the measures taken to suppress them will also be published before Tuesday’s vote, Johnson said.
    Read more


    Germany will decide in early January which coronavirus curbs can be lifted, the premier of the state of North-Rhine Westphalia has said.
    Reuters reports that he urged people to observe hygiene and distancing rules to help bring case numbers down.
    “We have to see at the beginning of January what is possible again and what has to stay closed,” the premier of the country’s most populous state said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio.
    Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed with leaders of Germany’s 16 federal states to extend and tighten measures against the coronavirus until at least Dec. 20 and they are likely to extend them into January.
    Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said on Saturday the measures could last into early Spring if infections are not brought under control.
    Laschet said restrictions should be eased as soon as possible and if the incidence of infections allow. He added:
     :Left Quotes: I find it hard to imagine that we will be closing everything for months on end and contributing billions from the federal coffers month after month.
    There were 14,611 new confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday, around 1,000 cases fewer than a week ago.
    Reported cases are usually lower at the weekend as fewer tests are conducted.
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    Post by Kitkat Sun 29 Nov 2020, 18:50

    Germany will decide in early January which coronavirus curbs can be lifted, the premier of the state of North-Rhine Westphalia has said.
    Reuters reports that he urged people to observe hygiene and distancing rules to help bring case numbers down.
    “We have to see at the beginning of January what is possible again and what has to stay closed,” the premier of the country’s most populous state said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio.
    Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed with leaders of Germany’s 16 federal states to extend and tighten measures against the coronavirus until at least 20 December and they are likely to extend them into January.
    The economy minister, Peter Altmaier, said on Saturday the measures could last into early spring if infections were not brought under control.
    Laschet said restrictions should be eased as soon as possible and if the incidence of infections allowed. He added:
     :Left Quotes:  I find it hard to imagine that we will be closing everything for months on end and contributing billions from the federal coffers month after month.
    There were 14,611 new confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday, about 1,000 cases fewer than a week ago.
    Reported cases are usually lower at the weekend as fewer tests are conducted.



    France’s state council, the country’s highest court, today ordered the government to review a law limiting the number of people in churches during religious services to 30, Reuters reports.
    The council said in a statement that the measure was not proportionate to coronavirus infection risks.
    Last week, the government announced that a nationwide lockdown in place since 30 October would be unwound in phases.
    Shops selling non-essential goods were allowed to reopen from 28 November and indoor religious services were allowed to resume, but the number of worshippers was capped at 30 people, regardless of the size of the place of worship.
    Catholic organisations have challenged the limit, arguing that churches and cathedrals are much more spacious than retail outlets, where the limit is one person per eight square metres.




    Doctors and nurses are protesting in Madrid, Spain against cuts that they say have left them struggling to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.
    Banging drums and singing “less flags and more nurses”, about 4,000 protesters marched through the Spanish capital, the region hit hardest by the coronavirus, Reuters reports:
    Lucia Tielvez, 65, an auxiliary health worker said:
     :Left Quotes: They [healthcare] are segregating. In the private health companies it is a business. In the public, everyone comes. If you don’t have money, you don’t get.
    Madrid’s conservative regional government has denied cutting health services.
    Photographs published in Spanish media on Sunday showing cities packed with Christmas shoppers sparked fears of a spike in infections.
    Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish PM, urged people to avoid large family gatherings this Christmas to avoid a rise in Covid-19 cases. He told party supporters on Saturday:
     :Left Quotes: The next few months will be decisive. Experts predict that we will attend a critical stage of the pandemic, coinciding with the first mass vaccines.
    Spain’s left-wing government is considering limiting Christmas gatherings to six people.
    Spain added 10,853 new cases of coronavirus to its tally on Friday, according to health ministry data, down from more than 12,000 new cases the day before.
    The number of people who died from coronavirus in Spain rose by 294 on Friday, bringing the total death toll from the pandemic to 44,668, while the cumulative total of cases reached 1,628,208.
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    Post by Kitkat Sun 29 Nov 2020, 18:54

    UK reports 208 deaths in last 24 hours

    The UK government have reported a further 208 deaths of people who tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 40,405.
    Patients were aged between 39 and 100 years old. All except 13 (aged 56 to 86 years old) had known underlying health conditions.
    Date of death ranges from 25 October to 28 November 2020 with the majority being on or after 25 November.
    The number of deaths of patients with Covid-19 by region are as follows:
    East of England – 21
    London – 15
    Midlands – 63
    North East & Yorkshire – 50
    North West – 32
    South East – 14
    South West – 13
    Total: 208

    UK reports 12,155 cases, 215 deaths

    There have been a further 12,155 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK, according to government data. This compares to 15,871 cases registered on Saturday.
    A total of 1,617,327 people have tested positive.
    A further 215 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported on Monday, bringing the total to 58,245. There were 479 on Saturday.
    Sunday figures are often lower because of reporting delays over the weekend.
    Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 73,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

    French court orders government to loosen rules on religious ceremonies

    France’s highest administrative court has ordered the government to loosen coronavirus rules allowing no more than 30 people at religious services, in the face of angry objections from church leaders.
    The council of state said it was giving the prime minister, Jean Castex, three days to change the rules, as the limit of 30 set to combat the coronavirus was not sufficient to allow people to attend services when they wanted.
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    Post by Kitkat Sun 29 Nov 2020, 18:57

    Italy registered a further 20,648 coronavirus infections on Sunday, compared with 26,315 the previous day.
    There have been 541 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, the health ministry reported, down from 686 on Saturday.
    The country has seen 54,904 Covid-19 fatalities since its outbreak emerged in February, the second highest toll in Europe after the UK. It has also registered 1.585 million cases to date.




    The top infectious disease expert in the US has warned that the country may record a “surge upon a surge” of the virus in coming weeks.
    Dr Anthony Fauci said he did not expect current guidance around social distancing to be relaxed before Christmas.
    “When you have the kind of inflection that we have, it doesn’t all of a sudden turn around like that,” Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABC.
    “So clearly in the next few weeks, we’re going to have the same sort of thing. And perhaps even two or three weeks down the line ... we may see a surge upon a surge.”




    New York City’s state schools will start to reopen on 7 December, beginning with primary schools, the mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced on Sunday.
    Schools were closed less than two weeks ago when test positivity rates across the city passed the 3% benchmark agreed by the mayor and teachers’ union.
    To go into school, students must have a signed consent form agreeing to weekly coronavirus testing or a letter of medical exemption from a doctor, the mayor said.
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    Post by Kitkat Sun 29 Nov 2020, 18:59

    The WHO delivered 15 ventilators to hospitals in Gaza on Sunday as the Palestinian territory suffers a rise in Covid-19 infections.
    The donation was funded by Kuwait and came a week after local and international public health advisers said the territory’s hospitals could soon become overwhelmed.
    “These devices will help medical teams provide better service to patients, but it is not enough,” said Abdullatif Alhaj of Gaza’s health ministry, adding that hospitals had suffered acute oxygen shortages.
    The health ministry said more than than half of the territory’s 150 ventilators were in use.
    There are 342 Covid-19 patients in Gaza’s hospitals, including 108 in a critical condition.




    Greece announced 1,193 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, a significant decrease compared to recent figures and its lowest number since 2 November.
    The total number of cases stands at 104,227.
    There were 98 deaths over the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 2,321. Greece announced a record increase in deaths on Saturday, with 121 fatalities registered.
    The country’s public health system is close to capacity, according to a report in Kathimerini, with 603 patients on ventilators. In Thessaloniki, patients are being transferred to a private clinic requisitioned due to the crisis.

    Turkey's death toll hits record high for seventh consecutive day

    Turkey’s daily coronavirus death toll hit a record high for a seventh consecutive day on Sunday, with 185 fatalities in the last 24 hours.
    The number of new coronavirus cases, including asymptomatic infections, decreased slightly to 29,281. Turkey only started reporting asymptomatic cases on Wednesday.
    The total death toll stands at 13,558.
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    Post by Kitkat Sun 29 Nov 2020, 19:02

    Lebanon to gradually ease restrictions

    Lebanon will begin to slowly relax coronavirus restrictions imposed two weeks ago from Monday, as it looks to boost its struggling economy ahead of Christmas.
    Acting health minister Hamad Hassan said restaurants will reopen at 50% capacity but bars and nightclubs will remain closed and weddings will be banned, while an overnight curfew will start from 11pm instead of 5pm.
    Schools would also reopen but with some classes still held online, Hassan said.



    The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 143,333 further coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s total to 13,142,997.
    Deaths have risen by 1,210 to 265,166.
    The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.



    In England, police have apologised after a pastor was accused of breaking coronavirus regulations while holding a religious service online, PA reports.
    The Rev Daniel Mateola said he was “treated like a criminal” when officers arrived at Kingdom Faith Ministries International church in Milton Keynes earlier this month.
    Thames Valley police said there had been a “misunderstanding” by officers in “what is an ever-changing and complex area of enforcement”.




    Children in Iraq have started returning to school for the first time since late February.
    Schools will operate for six days a week, in a bid to maintain social distancing in classrooms, according to a report in Al Jazeera.
    Primary school pupils will attend class one day a week, while secondary school students will go in twice a week. Online learning will be used in the rest of the week.




    France reported 9,784 new cases on Sunday, down from 12,580 on Saturday and 13,157 last Sunday.
    The number of people in intensive care fell by another 21 to 3,756 and the number of new deaths fell to 198 from 213 on Sunday, health ministry data showed.
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    Post by Kitkat Sun 29 Nov 2020, 21:39

    Summary

    Here’s a quick run-through of the latest coronavirus developments for anyone just joining us.

    • Children in Iraq have started returning to school for the first time since late February, with social distancing measures in place and schools operating six days a week.
    • Lebanon will begin to slowly relax coronavirus restrictions imposed two weeks ago from Monday, as it looks to boost its struggling economy ahead of Christmas.
    • Turkey’s daily coronavirus death toll hit a record high for a seventh consecutive day on Sunday, with 185 fatalities in the last 24 hours.
    • The WHO delivered 15 ventilators to hospitals in Gaza on Sunday as the Palestinian territory suffers a rise in Covid-19 infections.
    • New York City’s state schools will start to reopen on 7 December, beginning with primary schools, the mayor, Bill de Blasio, announced on Sunday.
    • The top infectious disease expert in the US has warned that the country may record a “surge upon a surge” of the virus in coming weeks.
    • Greece announced 1,193 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, a significant decrease compared to recent figures and its lowest number since 2 November.
    • Doctors and nurses are protesting in Madrid, Spain against cuts that they say have left them struggling to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.
    • France’s highest administrative court has ordered the government to loosen coronavirus rules allowing no more than 30 people at religious services, in the face of angry objections from church leaders.
    • There have been a further 12,155 lab-confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK, according to government data. This compares to 15,871 cases registered on Saturday.




    Brazil has registered 24,468 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours and 272 new deaths, the country’s health ministry said on Sunday.
    The country has now registered 6,314,740 total confirmed coronavirus cases and 172,833 deaths.

      Current date/time is Thu 28 Mar 2024, 21:27