Category Archives: Coronavirus outbreak

US to join summit on global green recovery from Covid-19 crisis

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Exclusive: IEA chief warns rebound in emissions would be missed economic opportunity

The US is to join with other major powers including China, India and the EU in formulating plans for a global green recovery from the coronavirus crisis, in the only major international summit on the climate emergency this year.

The idea of a green recovery to prevent a dangerous rebound in greenhouse gas emissions to above pre-Covid-19 levels has been gathering steam, but few governments have yet committed to plans.

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Victoria’s coronavirus spike: what’s causing it, and is anyone to blame?

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We ask health experts whether what we’re seeing in Melbourne is a ‘second wave’, and why it’s happening there

Victoria is experiencing a concerning rise in Covid-19 cases, with 75 new cases announced on Monday which were identified over the preceding 24 hours, one of the largest overnight jumps for the state since the pandemic began. For almost two weeks, the state has seen a double-digit rise in cases every day.

Many are now trying to identify a source of blame for the spread. According to the Australian, overly prohibitive lockdown laws implemented by the Victorian government early on in the pandemic were seen by the public as excessive given the low number of cases at the time. The report suggested this led some people to relax, and to question government warnings that they needed to keep socially distancing.

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Balcony churches: Kenyans find new ways to worship in lockdown

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With no date set for religious buildings to reopen, an innovative priest brings his own brand of musical service to apartment complexes

The children hang over the balcony railings on Sunday morning, parents clutching on to their coat collars to keep them from tumbling over. In the parking lot below, a four-person band test microphones and practise harmonies.

A moment later, the group break into an upbeat chorus, filling the Mirema apartment complex in Nairobi with music: “I’m happy today, so happy. In Jesus’s name, I’m happy.”

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Azar says ‘window closing’ to halt US coronavirus spread as Pence urges people to wear masks – video

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As confirmed coronavirus cases in the US surpass 2.5m, US health secretary Alex Azar warns 'the window is closing' on halting its spread. The US has suffered a recent surge in infections, with states across the west and south among the hardest hit. Speaking in Texas, the vice president Mike Pence says wearing mask is 'a good idea' when social distancing cannot be maintained, and also notes there is a spike in cases among younger Americans

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Coronavirus live news: global deaths pass 500,000 as ‘window closing’ in US on chance to curb Covid-19

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California governor closes bars in several counties; half a million confined in Beijing; cases worldwide top 10m; Follow the latest updates

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will announce massive spending plans Monday to boost Britain’s coronavirus-hit economy, as pressure grows on the government over its handling of the crisis.

Johnson’s new package of measures is intended to meet the unprecedented challenge the pandemic has posed to the economy, and restore the government’s standing.

Beijing’s city government reported seven new Covid-19 cases for 28 June, down from 14 a day earlier as the Chinese capital seeks to contain an outbreak.

The city also reported one new asymptomatic case, a patient who has the coronavirus but is not exhibiting symptoms, compared with three such cases a day earlier.

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Coronavirus live news: pandemic is ‘not even close to being over’, warns WHO chief

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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says pandemic is ‘speeding up’; India records 19,459 new cases; Iran records highest daily death toll; China’s military approves vaccine for use on its soldiers

Social distancing simply isn’t possible for the 1 million Rohingya refugees who live in Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, in southeastern Bangladesh.

Families live in close quarters inside flimsy bamboo shacks, using communal toilets and water facilities. Sometimes the most basic items, such as soap, are lacking.

Related: Cox's Bazar refugee camps: where social distancing is impossible

The US is to join with other major powers including China, India and the EU in formulating plans for a global green recovery from the coronavirus crisis, in the only major international summit on the climate emergency this year.

The idea of a green recovery to prevent a dangerous rebound in greenhouse gas emissions to above pre-Covid-19 levels has been gathering steam, but few governments have yet committed to plans.

Related: US to join summit on global green recovery from Covid-19 crisis

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Coronavirus Victoria: everything we know about Melbourne’s Covid-19 clusters

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The city is on a 10-day suburban testing blitz after premier Daniel Andrews revealed hotspots were largely caused by extended families

Melbourne has embarked on a 10-day testing blitz, aiming to test at least 50% of people in 10 suburbs.

This is due to problematic rates of community transmission of coronavirus in these areas, as well as persistent outbreaks and clusters.

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Covid-19: risk of death in UK care homes 13 times higher than in Germany

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Exclusive: figures show Britain second only to Spain among major European countries

Care home residents were more likely to die of Covid-19 in the UK than in any of the major European countries apart from Spain, analysis of global data has revealed.

The proportion of residents dying in UK homes was a third higher than in Ireland and Italy, about double that in France and Sweden, and 13 times higher than Germany. The analysis of official statistics was carried out by academics at the London School of Economics as part of the International Long Term Care Policy Network.

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Coronavirus live news: US cases pass 2.5m as Australia considers new lockdown in Melbourne

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Cases approach 10m; new Covid-19 clusters across world spark fear of second wave; UK NHS will take four years to recover. Follow the latest updates

The UK needs to maintain “constant vigilance” as it eases out of lockdown, a former government chief scientific adviser has warned.

When outbreaks occur they typically occur in clusters and we’re seeing certain work environments, for example, food processing factories, as being fairly common places for those clusters to rise.

The common denominator is really being indoors, being crowded, being there for prolonged periods of time, noisy environments where people are coughing and shouting, and so there’s more droplet transmission.

The total number of people to die from Covid-19 in Russia has increased by 104 to 9,073, according to the country’s coronavirus response centre.

Russia on Sunday also reported 6,791 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 634,437.

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‘A travesty’: North Carolina grapples with reopening as Covid-19 cases surge

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North Carolina remains in the second phase of its reopening plan after hitting a new high in hospitalizations, but industry groups want restrictions eased

Major – the photogenic life-sized bronze bull statue that presides over a square near the center of downtown Durham, North Carolina – hasn’t had much company in recent weeks.

With the number of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the state all trending upwards, many businesses up and down Main Street remain closed, while others operate in a limited capacity. Some storefronts have been boarded up following recent Black Lives Matter protests, with the plywood covered in graffiti art. “People were crying before the teargas,” one read.

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Only 13% of UK working parents want to go back to ‘the old normal’

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Survey shows people want to continue with more fulfilling and family-friendly work environments

Whatever the new normal is post Covid-19, we don’t want it to be anything like the old one. At least, when it comes to earning a living.

Lockdown has given people a chance to sample new ways of balancing their jobs and family lives and they have concluded that something must change. Just 13% want to go back to pre-pandemic ways of working, with most people saying they would prefer to spend a maximum of three days in the office.

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‘Like leaning into a left hook’: coronavirus calamity unfolds across divided US

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In a week that saw the worst day on record for new cases, Trump shrugs as experts warn Americans not to follow his lead

A disaster is unfolding in Montgomery, Alabama, where Martin Luther King preached and where Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus. Hospitals are running short of drugs to treat Covid-19, intensive care units are close to capacity, and ventilators are running short.

Related: Rashida Tlaib pushes to free US inmates from coronavirus 'death sentence’

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Global report: worldwide Covid-19 cases near 10m as US again hits record daily rise

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Global milestone expected on Sunday; lockdowns reintroduced in some countries; NZ quarantine system ‘under stress’

Global coronavirus cases are expected to tip over 10 million on Sunday, marking a major milestone in the spread of the disease that has so far killed almost 500,000 people in seven months.

The figure is roughly double the number of severe influenza illnesses recorded annually, according to the World Health Organisation.

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New Zealand’s Covid-19 isolation facilities under ‘extreme stress’, review finds

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Country records biggest coronavirus case jump in two months after four returning travellers diagnosed

A review of New Zealand’s managed isolation and quarantine facilities has found that the system is under “extreme stress” as more and more Kiwis return home. It came as four more returnees tested positive to Covid-19 in the biggest one-day jump in cases in two months.

The review found “resources required to support the managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) function have failed to keep pace with the increased volume of returnees”.

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Coalition plays down reports of permanent $75 rise in jobseeker payment

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Social services minister says any talk of permanent change in unemployment payment will be for after coronavirus

The Australian government insists it is focused on the next phase of “short-term measures” to support people through the coronavirus pandemic amid reports it is considering a permanent $75 per week lift in unemployment benefits.

The government has been coming under increasing pressure over the drop-off in economic supports due in September, with the Qantas announcement last week of a further 6,000 job cuts adding to expectations of extended economic pain.

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‘Escape the pandemic in paradise’: Fiji opens its borders seeking billionaires

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Prime minister looks to attract ‘VIPs’ to help restore country’s battered economy which is heavily dependent on tourism

After months of strict Covid-19 lockdowns and resolutely closed borders, Fiji is open – for billionaires.

The prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, has announced the country is looking to attract “VIPs” to help restore Fiji’s paralysed tourism-dependent economy.

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Coronavirus US: Florida again breaks one-day record for new cases – live

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The Mississippi state government has started a process that will see the Confederate battle emblem removed from the state’s flag.

Breaking: House passed it with the two-thirds majority it required. It got immediate release, meaning Senate could take it up as soon as they want.

The latest: https://t.co/Jgcddn3i34 #msleg https://t.co/rKwKGkMmWt

The legislature has been deadlocked for days as it considers a new state flag. The argument over the 1894 flag has become as divisive as the flag itself and it’s time to end it.
If they send me a bill this weekend, I will sign it. pic.twitter.com/bf3vyzuObt

The Winston-Salem Journal reports on a disturbing development in the Bubba Wallace story. Wallace, Nascar’s only black driver, led a successful campaign to rid the stock-car racing series of the Confederate flag. Last week, a noose was found in his team’s garage although a subsequent investigation found the rope had been there since last fall, and Wallace was not the subject of a hate crime. Here’s what the Associated Press has to say on the latest development:

A North Carolina racetrack has lost some partnerships after its owner advertised “Bubba Rope” for sale online days after Nascar said a noose had been found in the garage stall of Bubba Wallace, the top series’ only Black driver.

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Trump visits private golf course as US battles rapid surge in coronavirus cases

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US president heads to Virginia a day after saying he’d stay in Washington DC to ‘make sure law and order is enforced’ amid ongoing anti-racism protests

Donald Trump visited one his own private golf courses in Virginia on Saturday as America continued to see fallout from a rapid surge in coronavirus cases and a day after the US president said he would stay in Washington DC to “make sure law and order is enforced” amid ongoing anti-racism protests.

Related: US reopening plans reverse quickly amid alarming increase in coronavirus cases

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‘We opened too quickly’: Texas becomes a model for inadequate Covid-19 response

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State shuts down again after seven weeks with coronavirus cases soaring, after ignoring inconvenient data and fighting party-political turf wars

When Donald Trump welcomed Texas governor Greg Abbott to the White House in May, the US president hailed his fellow Republican as “one of the great governors” and lauded the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and predicted boom times ahead.

“When you look at the job he’s done in Texas, I rely on his judgment,” Trump said.

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