FACTBOX: The latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Christians wearing face masks to help protect against the spread of the new coronavirus use hand sanitizer before attending a service at the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea. Picture: Ahn Young-joon/AP

Christians wearing face masks to help protect against the spread of the new coronavirus use hand sanitizer before attending a service at the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea. Picture: Ahn Young-joon/AP

Published Jul 5, 2020

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Cases of Covid-19 are still surging - on

Saturday the World Health Organization reported more than

200 000 new cases globally of the disease for the first time in

a single day. At the same time, life is returning to normal in

many places. In England this weekend people were allowed to go

to a pub this weekend for the first time in more than three

months.

EUROPE

* Police at roadblocks warned motorists they were entering a

lockdown zone as Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia

reimposed restrictions on more than 200 000 people following

several new coronavirus outbreaks.

* People in England appear to have broadly behaved

themselves as pubs reopened this weekend, Britain's health

minister Matt Hancock said after the latest step towards a

return to normality.

ASIA-PACIFIC

* The premier of Australia's second-most populous state,

Victoria, defended his decision to put nine public housing

towers in a complete lockdown as coronavirus cases continue to

rise in Melbourne's suburbs.

* Visitors to the Taj Mahal will have to wear masks at all

times, keep their distance and not touch its glistening marble

surfaces when India's 17th-century monument to love reopens on

Monday after a three-month shutdown.

AMERICAS

* Florida and Texas, two states that have emerged as the

latest hot spots of the US coronavirus outbreak, both reported

record daily increases in confirmed Covid-19 cases on Saturday -

with nearly 20,000 additional infections combined.

* Mexico reported 523 more coronavirus deaths, pushing its

tally to 30 366, overtaking France to become the fifth-highest

in the world.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

* Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo will self-isolate for 14

days on the advice of doctors after a person in his close circle

tested positive for coronavirus, the government

said.

* Saudi Arabia's coronavirus infections have passed 200 000

and neighbouring United Arab Emirates 50 000, with the number of

new cases climbing after the Arab world's two largest economies

fully lifted curfews last month.

* Iranians who do not wear masks will be denied state

services and workplaces that fail to comply with health

protocols will be shut for a week, President Hassan Rouhani said

as he launched new measures to try to curb the

coronavirus.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was

discontinuing its trials of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine

and combination HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir in hospitalised

Covid-19 patients after they failed to reduce mortality.

* Britain is putting 8.4 million pounds ($10.49 million)

into a new study to examine the long-term effects of COVID-19 on

patients, the health ministry said.

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

* US President Donald Trump signed into law a deadline

extension to Aug. 8 for small businesses to apply for relief

loans under a federal aid program to help businesses hurt by the

pandemic, the White House said.

* Italy is considering fiscal measures to spur investments

in the auto and tourism industries, two of the sectors that have

been hardest hit by the pandemic, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte

said on Saturday.

Reuters

Related Topics:

coronavirus