Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

US setting new coronavirus case records as ‘Russian bounty’ row continues – live updates

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Meanwhile, there’s breaking news from the Supreme Court, via The Washington Post (added bolds from me):

A lower court had granted a request from the House Judiciary Committee for access to redacted portions of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election. But in May, the Supreme Court put a hold on that ruling until the high court could decide whether the issue warranted its intervention.

On the campaign trail and often in public remarks about economic news the president has promised that the final two quarters of 2020 would be a substantial improvement from earlier numbers.

He made that argument again at this press conference.

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Coronavirus live news: Sweden’s cases pass 70,000; Tokyo confirms highest new case tally in two months

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Sweden records 947 new cases in a day; Russia cases pass 660,000; Indonesia reports record daily infections rise; Middle East at ‘critical threshold’ says WHO

US president Donald Trump celebrated a government report showing the country gained 4.8m jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 11.1% last month, when states began allowing businesses to reopen from strict shutdowns aimed at containing the coronavirus pandemic.

“Today’s announcement proves that our economy is roaring back,” Trump said, rattling off different sectors that saw job gains according to the monthly report.

Oman’s health minister said the sultanate has witnessed a “scary” surge in Covid-19 cases that required boosting hospital capacity, especially for intensive care units.

The country reported another 1,361 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday and three deaths in the last 24 hours, to take its total count to 42,555 cases with 188 deaths.

In the last six weeks there has been a radical change which is very disturbing and scary.

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Maduro refused control of $1bn in UK vaults by British high court

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UK has ‘unequivocally recognised’ rival Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s president, ruling says

A British court has refused to give Nicolás Maduro control of $1bn (£799m) of gold bullion held by Venezuela in the vaults of the Bank of England, ruling the UK government has “unequivocally recognised” his rival Juan Guaidó as president.

The Venezuelan central bank (BCV) – whose board is appointed by Maduro, the successor to Hugo Chávez – took the legal action after its request to release the gold to pass the proceeds to the UN to help combat coronavirus in the country was rejected by the Bank of England on the basis the UK had recognised Guaidó.

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Trump has ‘gone awol’ as president amid coronavirus pandemic, says ex-CIA director

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Leon Panetta becomes latest prominent public figure to accuse Trump of effectively surrendering to the virus and abandoning Americans to their fate

Donald Trump has “essentially gone awol from the job of leadership that he should be providing a country in trouble” during the coronavirus pandemic, a former defence secretary and CIA director said on Wednesday.

Related: US setting new coronavirus case records as 'Russian bounty' row continues - live updates

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Coronavirus vaccine tracker: How close are we to a vaccine?

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More than 140 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine

Researchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, with more than 140 candidate vaccines now tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO).

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How we can truly repay our frontline health workers: clear their debts | Alissa Quart, Astra Taylor And Brittany M Powell

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Many of the workers risking their lives amid the pandemic are burdened with student debt. We owe them more than just applause

Every day at 7pm, New Yorkers have cheered, applauded and banged pots and pans for frontline workers. One of those they have cheered for is Shana-Kay Henry, a physician assistant in the city, who, like thousands of others, is praised as a hero for her brave caretaking efforts during the pandemic.

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UK to lift ban on non-essential travel to up to 90 countries

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Change set to allow visits to nearly all EU countries, British overseas territories and Australia and New Zealand

Overseas holidays and visits to up to 90 countries will be possible for Britons from Monday without the need to quarantine for 14 days on return.

The Foreign Office is expected to lift its ban on non-essential travel to nearly all EU countries, British territories such as Bermuda and Gibraltar, and Australia and New Zealand.

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David Clark’s resignation ‘inevitable’ as Ardern seeks to restore trust

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New Zealand’s handling of coronavirus was besmirched by health minister’s blunders, so a pre-election salvage operation was needed

New Zealanders had been confined to their homes for more than two weeks when photographs emerged of David Clark’s campaign van parked at a mountain-biking track in Dunedin.

His vehicle was the only one there.

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Christ the Redeemer statue lit up for coronavirus victims – video

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Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue was illuminated on Wednesday night in tribute to Covid-19 victims. Brazil surpassed 60,000 coronavirus deaths, while overall confirmed infections reached 1.42 million. The country is the second worst hit in the world by the coronavirus after the US

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Trump hopes coronavirus will ‘just disappear’ and says he’s ‘all for masks’ – video

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US president Donald Trump says he hopes the coronavirus will “just disappear”, despite states across the country experiencing record numbers of new Covid-19 cases. Speaking to Fox Business, the president was asked if he believed the virus will simply disappear. "Yeah sure. At some point. And I think we’re going to have a vaccine very soon too," he added. Trump has consistently been criticised for not promoting safety measures such as wearing masks, but told Fox Business he "thinks masks are good" and that when he wore one, he liked the way he looked "like the Lone Ranger".

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Trump claims ‘Russian bounty’ story is hoax as pressure for answers grows – live updates

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Donald Trump is criticizing New York City’s plan to paint “Black Lives Matter” on 5th Avenue outside Trump Tower — calling it a “symbol of hate.”

NYC is cutting Police $’s by ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and yet the @NYCMayor is going to paint a big, expensive, yellow Black Lives Matter sign on Fifth Avenue, denigrating this luxury Avenue. This will further antagonize New York’s Finest, who LOVE New York & vividly remember the....

National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien has said that both the CIA and Pentagon did pursue intelligence assessments that suggested Russia had offered bounties for killing US troops in Afghanistan, and that US intelligence briefed international allies, as the administration steps up its defense of the handling of the military bounty scandal.

“We had options ready to go,” O’Brien said on a Fox news show. But added: “It may be impossible to get to the bottom of it.”

American servicemembers are being targeted with Russian bounties. As a Marine, I'm disgusted that nothing's been done about it. Mitch, you get regular security briefings. What did you know and when did you know it?

Man up and tell the truth. #MoscowMitch

Analysis: The only people dismissing the Russia bounties intel: The Taliban, Russia and Trump https://t.co/hbWx8PitRX

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Global report: first tourists arrive in Greece as Brazil passes 60,000 deaths

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Spain and Portugal reopen border as global tourism industry predicted to lose up to £2.6tn

The first tourist flights in four months landed on the Greek island of Crete, and Spain and Portugal reopened their land border as European countries continued to ease travel restrictions, as Brazil recorded 60,000 deaths.

A charter plane carrying 172 passengers from Hamburg landed at Heraklion airport on Crete at 8am, minutes after another aircraft had arrived from the Czech Republic, re-establishing the island’s air links with the outside world.

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Failings in Leicester are doomed to be repeated | Letters

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Readers respond to the reimposition of lockdown in the city after a surge in Covid-19 cases

Living and working in Leicester city centre we find ourselves in a new social experiment (Leicester forced into local lockdown to combat surge in Covid-19 cases, 30 June). We were all surprised to learn from Matt Hancock of an increased infection rate in a daily briefing on 19 June. Since then we’ve been the focus of speculation, and now of action. Our store opened two weeks ago, a Monday morning that saw two-hour queues snaking around the city-centre streets. Shops including ours are now closed again, and bars and barbers have put their reopening plans on ice. The community overall has patiently respected a sensible and cautious return of safe behaviours.

But there is a problem: Leicester has huge poverty and inequalities. Living and working conditions are extremely challenging for many families trying to do their best and follow guidance. Government financial support has not reached many as they fall through the gaps. National health messages just have not reached many BAME communities. All of this was only made worse by our own elected mayor breaking lockdown rules, and admitting he didn’t understand them, which only enhanced the Cummings effect. Did Leicester ever stand a chance? I think not.
James Hempsall
Director, Hempsall’s, Leicester

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US reports record one-day increase in Covid-19 cases as Trump stays silent

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Concerns mount over Trump’s handling of the crisis as he posts erratic tweets attacking the media and Democrats

The US recorded more than 44,000 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, a new record one-day increase as it struggles with the pandemic, while concerns mount over Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis and his recent silence on the issue.

Eight states reported new single-day highs of freshly diagnosed cases, and the dire numbers follow a warning by the public health expert Dr Anthony Fauci that the US is “going in the wrong direction” and infections could more than double, to reach 100,000 cases a day.

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Air pollution likely to make coronavirus worse, say UK government advisers

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Experts say further investigation of link is urgently required and may be relevant to managing pandemic

Air pollution is likely to be increasing the number and severity of Covid-19 infections, according to the UK government’s expert advisers.

In a report published on Wednesday, the experts said further investigation of the link between dirty air and the coronavirus pandemic was “urgently required” and may be relevant to how the pandemic is managed.

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Coronavirus UK: are Covid-19 cases rising or falling near you?

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Latest updates: how has Covid-19 progressed where you live? Check the week-on-week changes across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The map shows local authorities where the number of cases has increased week-on-week and where it has fallen. Some of this is due to natural fluctuations, especially in areas where there are very few cases, and so a rise from 1 to 2 is a doubling. Increased testing also means that more cases may be being detected than previously, although the impact of this between one week and the next is likely to be slight.

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Coronavirus Australia update: Melbourne’s hotspot suburbs in lockdown as Victoria struggles to contain outbreak – live news

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Residents of 10 postcodes in Melbourne’s north and west have been ordered to stay home from midnight tonight. Follow live

Scott Morrison was asked about Annastacia Palaszczuk’s comments about singling out Queensland on the Nine network this morning:

Well, I haven’t. There’s an election in Queensland, so I’m not surprised that the political rhetoric is amping up. Look, we’re keeping all of the country together to focus on this. I made similar comments about the changes in borders in South Australia yesterday. So, look, I think you can file that under a Queensland election.

Anthony Albanese was asked about Annastacia Palaszczuk’s comments yesterday, after she hit back on the border criticism (which included Scott Morrison) and said:

Well, look, I don’t believe that it’s appropriate, and I haven’t sought to politicise a response to the medical issues with regard to borders.

I’m not surprised that Annastacia Palaszczuk, who has shown tremendous leadership in Queensland, is frustrated at the comments of the Prime Minister given he has said time and time again it’s up to the states what happens.

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Coronavirus live news: Brazil death toll exceeds 60,000; West Bank goes into lockdown

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Global tourism stands to lose up to $3.3tn, says UN; Ryanair pilots take pay cut to avoid job losses; tourist flights to Greece resume; global cases pass 10.5m

The US has suffered 560 more deaths and registered another 43,644 cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said, taking the respective totals to 127,299 and 2,624,873.

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Three asylum seekers at camp near US border test positive for coronavirus

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Advocates have long worried about potential for an outbreak at Matamoros camp, where an estimated 2,000 migrants live

Three asylum seekers have tested positive for coronavirus in a sprawling border encampment, marking the first cases in a settlement that advocates have long viewed as vulnerable amid the pandemic.

Since confirmed cases of coronavirus in Mexico began rising in March, advocates and government officials have worried about the potential for an outbreak in the Matamoros camp, where an estimated 2,000 migrants live in tents on the banks of the Rio Grande river.

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Tesla shareholders urged to oust Elon Musk over $55bn pay deal

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Adviser Pirc says Musk’s pay and Twitter outbursts pose ‘serious risk of reputation harm to the company’

Tesla investors are being urged to vote to remove Elon Musk, the electric vehicle company’s founder and chief executive, from the board of the firm as anger mounts over his bonus deal that could pay him a record $55.8bn (£40bn).

Pirc, an influential adviser to shareholders, including the UK’s local authority pension funds, on Tuesday recommended that investors voted against Tesla’s executive pay deal because it “unfairly enriches the chief executive”.

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