Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

Chile’s indigenous communities face new challenges amid pandemic

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Country’s indigenous groups count for 12.8% of population but government response has been criticised as ‘monocultural’

Away from the grey tower blocks and sprawling suburbs of Chile’s capital, Santiago, the country’s indigenous communities are facing new challenges during the pandemic.

The country’s 10 indigenous groups account for 12.8% of the population, scattered from the southernmost tip of Patagonia to the dry plains of the Atacama Desert in the north, and remote Easter Island in the South Pacific.

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Coronavirus Australia live update: NSW records 14 new Covid-19 cases as Victoria reports 288 new cases

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Pop-up testing facility to be set up in Sydney hotel car park as Victorian premier says 37,588 tests were conducted in the state yesterday. Follow live news and updates

Victoria is preparing two-million reusable masks for people in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire by the end of July, and a million single-use masks, but in case you want to go and make your own now, you can find a CDC guide on how to make one here.

The Victorian government is going to prepare its own how-to guide for masks in the coming days.

Due to the heightened public health risk with the current outbreak in Victoria, we are asking ALL South Australians with symptoms (fever/chills, cough, sore throat, runny nose, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell) to get tested for COVID-19. https://t.co/daEpRqXyQV pic.twitter.com/lccT3Rvwef

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Coronavirus live news: Bolivia leader tests positive as Australia limits returnees

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Venezuelan Socialist party boss also tests positive; Brazil president Bolsonaro ‘in good health’; record new cases in Australian state of Victoria

Reuters is reporting that a clinical trial in Japan of Fujifilm Holdings Corp’s Avigan drug yielded inconclusive results as a treatment of Covid-19.

The drug, which has been shown to cause birth defects in animal studies, has already been approved as a Covid-19 treatment in Russia and India.

So, welcome to our coronavirus live coverage. For those of you wanting your news straight, here’s a summary of the top lines of the day, with link to key pieces for you to investigate further at your leisure:

The UK has rejected the chance to join the European Union’s coronavirus vaccine programme due to ministers’ concerns over “costly delays”, according to sources.

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Coronavirus: Bogotá to re-enter strict lockdown – as it happened

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WHO reports worrying rise; second Venezuelan minister tests positive; Brazil records 1,200 more deaths

This blog is closed – keep following coronavirus news at our new live blog.

US prison officials have announced California will release up to 8,000 people from state prisons to curb the spread of Covid-19 throughout the institutions.

Officials on Friday announced three separate efforts, approved by the governor, Gavin Newsom, that they say will decrease the prison population by 8,ooo by the end of August. The measures mark the largest release efforts the state administration has taken since Covid-19 began to circulate among prison staff and incarcerated people.

Related: California to release up to 8,000 prisoners to curb spread of coronavirus

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Disney World set to reopen at weekend despite coronavirus surge in Florida

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State recorded a record high of 120 Covid-19 deaths on Wednesday and is seeing one of the largest outbreaks in the US

Disney World is set to begin reopening in Florida this weekend despite surging numbers of new coronavirus cases in the state.

Two of the entertainment giant’s Orlando theme parks, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, will open their gates on Saturday to guests with pre-booked reservations, with Epcot and Hollywood Studios following suit on 15 July. The four parks, along with the numerous hotels of the Disney World resort, have been closed since mid-March.

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Police interrogate five Australian Al Jazeera journalists accused of sedition in Malaysia

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Journalists ordered to be questioned after broadcast of documentary about migrant workers in Kuala Lumpur during Covid-19 pandemic

Five Australian journalists are being interrogated by Malaysian authorities who have accused them of sedition and defamation after the broadcast of a documentary about migrant workers in Kuala Lumpur during Covid-19.

A week after the broadcast of the Al Jazeera English documentary in Malaysia, the journalists were ordered to attend the police station for questioning on Friday morning.

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Helen Clark: WHO coronavirus inquiry aims to ‘stop the world being blindsided again’

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Former New Zealand prime minister says WHO director general said during early days he was ‘screaming every day but no one is listening’

A former prime minister of New Zealand whose leadership was defined by stability and thoroughness has been appointed to investigate if the World Health Organization failed to adequately warn of the coronavirus pandemic.

In global circles, Helen Clark became known as a “fighter” and has described the WHO investigation as “exceptionally challenging” and a “very tough gig”, given the review would be conducted in the midst of a pandemic. Speaking to the Guardian from her home in Auckland, Clark said she had to start immediately – “before another pandemic is upon us”.

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Bolivia’s president Jeanine Añez says she has tested positive for coronavirus – video

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Bolivia's President Jeanine Añez said on Thursday she has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Añez said in a tweet she was "well" and continuing to work while in isolation. "Together, we will come out of this," she said.

The Bolivian government confirmed that at least seven ministers, including its health minister, had tested positive and were either undergoing treatment or recuperating at home

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Global report: Bolivia’s president and Venezuela’s Socialist party leader test positive for Covid-19

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Announcements come after Brazil’s president tested positive; South Africa records highest one-day case increase; Australia to limit incoming travellers

Two more leading Latin American politicians – from Bolivia and Venezuela – have said they have tested positive for Covid-19 in the same week Brazil’s president announced he had contracted coronavirus.

Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s number two official and the leader of the Socialist party, announced his diagnosis on social media on Thursday evening and said he was in self-isolation. “We will prevail!!” tweeted the influential Chavista.

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Tokyo pays clubs and hostess bars to close after spike in coronavirus cases

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City authorities, which cannot legally force closures, offer incentives after Japan capital reports a record 224 new cases

Nightclubs and hostess bars in Tokyo are to be paid to close after the Japanese capital recorded 224 coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest daily tally since the pandemic began.

Authorities had previously refused to give nightlife businesses economic support during the pandemic, but have changed tack after 80% of Thursday’s infections were among people in their 20s and 30s. Many of them were identified after more than 3,000 tests were carried out in Tokyo entertainment districts, including Shinjuku and Ikebukuro.

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New Zealand: man cuts through fence to escape Covid-19 quarantine and buy alcohol

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Man in his 50s is the third person to abscond during quarantine, as the nation battles with influx of returning citizens

New Zealand’s government has revealed that a third person has absconded from a managed isolation facility, saying a man cut through a fence so that he could go to buy some alcohol.

On Wednesday a man, aged in his 30s absconded from his managed quarantine hotel in central Auckland to visit a supermarket and later tested positive for coronavirus. It came after a woman jumped over a hedge to get out of quarantine. Later, she got lost and asked a passing policeman for directions back to her hotel.

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Fauci says states with surging Covid-19 cases should pause reopening efforts

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Public health expert made remark after US set world record for most new Covid-19 cases reported in one day

As the US set a world record for most Covid-19 cases in one day, with 60,000 reported on Wednesday, Dr Anthony Fauci, a senior member of the White House coronavirus taskforce, said states needed to pause reopening efforts.

Related: Some Republican senators to skip national convention due to pandemic

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‘Work out to help out’: gyms, sports clubs and swimming pools to reopen in England – video

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The culture secretary has urged the nation to 'work out to help out' as he announced that gyms, sports clubs, swimming pools and leisure centres will be able to reopen this month. Oliver Dowden also said theatre companies and musicians would be able to perform in open-air venues

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Serbian protesters clash with police over government handling of coronavirus – video report

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Police have fired teargas to disperse protesters hurling flares and objects in Serbia’s capital as violence erupted for the second day in a row during demonstrations against the president’s handling of the country’s coronavirus outbreak. The president, Aleksandar Vučić, backtracked on his plans to reinstate a coronavirus lockdown in Belgrade this week, but it did not stop people from firing flares and throwing stones while trying to storm the  parliament building

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Trump’s taxes may be released to grand jury, supreme court rules – live

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Chief justice John Roberts wrote the 7-2 opinion that the president is not categorically immune from grand jury requests. Both supreme court justices nominated by Trump, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, sided with the majority.

“Two hundred years ago, a great jurist of our Court established that no citizen, not even the President, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding,” Roberts wrote in the decision.

The supreme court has issued its decision in one case involving subpoenas for Trump’s financial records.

The justices issued a 7-2 decision that the president’s tax returns and business records may be turned over to a grand jury in New York.

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Coronavirus live news: WHO says pandemic still accelerating as global review announced

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WHO appoints committee to evaluate response to Covid-19 crisis; Serbia considers new lockdown after second night of riots; Infections worldwide pass 12m

As Covid-19 cases continue to surge in states throughout the US, another 1.3 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, highlighting the grim reality that any type of economic recovery may be far off, writes Lauren Aratani for Guardian US.

While the number of new unemployment filings has decreased significantly since it peaked in April at 6 million people filing in one week, it has remained above a million each week since forced shutdowns began.

Related: Another 1.3m Americans file for unemployment as states back away from reopening plans

Here’s a roundup of the key global coronavirus developments so far:

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Scots to be allowed to meet indoors as lockdown eases further

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Sturgeon confirms country is ready for phase 3 of easing plan, with rule changes from Friday

Scots will be able to meet each other indoors and stay overnight from Friday for the first time in more than three months, as Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that the country was ready to enter phase 3 of her government’s route map to reopening.

Announcing a raft of new guidance in a statement to Holyrood on Thursday, she added that non-cohabiting couples would be allowed to meet outdoors, indoors and overnight without physical distancing, while children under 12 would no longer have to physically distance outdoors or indoors.

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Zimbabwe health minister facing coronavirus corruption charge sacked

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Obadiah Moyo has been charged with criminal abuse of office over the alleged awarding of a $60m contract for Covid-19 supplies

A Zimbabwean health minister charged with corruption in connection with the awarding of a multimillion dollar contract for Covid-19 medical supplies has been fired by the president.

Obadiah Moyo was sacked by Emmerson Mnangagwa this week for inappropriate conduct by a public official.

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Boris Johnson’s pledge to recruit 50,000 more NHS nurses is in doubt

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Number of nurses coming from EU fell again and coronavirus prevented further arrivals

Boris Johnson’s pledge to recruit 50,000 more NHS nurses is in doubt after the number coming from the EU fell again and coronavirus prevented thousands of arrivals from the rest of the world.

The prime minister made the promise a cornerstone of his general election campaign last year and has since reiterated many times his determination to deliver the increase.

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Hunger could kill millions more than Covid-19, warns Oxfam

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Starvation looms from Afghanistan to Haiti as coronavirus restrictions wipe out incomes and cut food supplies

Millions of people are being pushed towards hunger by the coronavirus pandemic, which could end up killing more people through lack of food than from the illness itself, Oxfam has warned.

Closed borders, curfews and travel restrictions have disrupted food supplies and incomes in already fragile countries, forcing an extra million people closer to famine in Afghanistan and heightening the humanitarian disaster in Yemen, where two-thirds already live in hunger.

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