Coronavirus pandemic - World News

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Spain reports record rise in coronavirus cases

15,186 new infections confirmed in 1 day, while fatalities rise by 222

OVIEDO, Spain

Spain on Friday broke its all-time record for daily coronavirus cases, with the Health Ministry reporting 15,186 new infections.

The daily infection number rose more than 2,000 compared to the previous Friday, the day of the week when confirmed cases tend to spike in Spain.

The country's total number of infections has now exceeded 936,000.

On Friday, the number of COVID-19 deaths surged by another 222 people, bringing the total number of lives lost in Spain to 33,775.

Over the last week, Spanish authorities have identified more than 1,000 new outbreaks, with social settings continuing to be the main source of infection, leading to a quarter of the newly identified outbreaks.

Yet, with schools now open, educational centers are increasingly fueling the viral spread, causing 13.8% of the most recent outbreaks, while workspaces are responsible for 10.9%.

Despite the measures to shelter nursing homes, 71 new outbreaks were also detected this week in these vulnerable centers, leading to 819 new cases, according to data provided by the Health Ministry.

Another 1,768 COVID-19 patients are currently fighting for the lives in intensive care units, which are using 20% of their capacity to treat COVID-19 in Spain. Nearly 11,800 COVID-19 patients are in less serious condition, but still hospitalized.

Although Spain’s chief epidemiologist said in a news conference Thursday that cases appeared to be “stabilizing”, and could soon begin to drop, the infection rate this week in Spain jumped up considerably.

Last Friday, Spain in total reported 258 infections per 100,000 people over the past 14 days. After seven days, the figure now sits at 280 infections per 100,000.

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/spain-reports-record-rise-in-coronavirus-cases/2009108.

 

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Nearly 8,000 new Dutch coronavirus cases on Friday

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Netherlands hit another new record in daily coronavirus cases, with nearly 8,000 infections in the past 24 hours, data released on Friday showed.

The number of confirmed cases reached 7,984, according to daily figures compiled by the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM).

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: https://www.capebretonpost.com/news/world/nearly-8000-new-dutch-coronavirus-cases-on-friday-510118/.

 

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Coronavirus: Dutch royals return amid anger over Covid holiday

The Dutch royal family is back in the country after a holiday that lasted just one day, following a coronavirus-related public backlash.

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima headed off to the Greek sun on Friday but flew back on Saturday evening.

They left as a new partial lockdown was introduced and although they did not break any rules they said they had been affected by intense criticism.

PM Mark Rutte is under pressure to explain any advice he may have given.

The royals flew out on a government plane but were immediately criticised for going on holiday when the population was being advised to stay at home as much as possible to curb the spread of Covid-19.

They flew back on a scheduled KLM flight and the royal standard was flying over the palace in The Hague on Saturday evening.

The royal statement read: "We do not want to leave any doubts about it: in order to get the Covid-19 virus under control, it is necessary that the guidelines are followed. The debate over our holiday does not contribute to that."

There appeared to be some confusion about who in government knew about the trip and whether advice was given.

The Dutch monarchy has no formal role in the day-to-day running of the Netherlands. But the Ministry of General Affairs, headed by the prime minister, is responsible for what the monarchy says and does.

As a result, several MPs are calling on Mr Rutte to explain why he did not advise the royals to cancel their holiday.

"If Rutte had said that this was a bad idea, you can assume that the king would have changed his plans," said Peter Rehwinkel, leader of the PvdA party.

The GroenLinks leader also called the trip "an error in judgment" and abandoning the trip was the "only correct decision".

The daily tally of coronavirus infections continues to grow in the Netherlands. On Saturday, more than 8,000 new cases were recorded for the first time since the country's outbreak began.

Bars, restaurants and cannabis "coffee shops" have been ordered to close for four weeks.

It is not the first time the royal couple have been in the spotlight for their conduct. In August, they were pictured breaking social distancing rules with a restaurant owner during another trip to Greece.

The royal family's annual budget is under review amid growing pressure from opposition lawmakers.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54548631.

 

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Covid: Far-right protesters attack Slovak government office over virus measures

Protesters have attacked the offices of the Slovak government over measures to stem the spread of Covid-19.

The crowd, made up of about 500 neo-Nazis and hardcore football fans, threw bottles and stones at the building in the capital Bratislava.

Riot police later used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protest.

Earlier on Saturday, Slovakian Prime Minister Igor Matovic said the country would test every person aged 10 and older for coronavirus.

Like many countries across Europe, Slovakia has seen a surge in confirmed cases and deaths from Covid-19.

On Saturday the health ministry reported almost 2,000 new cases, bringing the total to more than 28,000, and 11 new deaths, raising the total death toll to 82.

The government declared a state of emergency earlier this month, and introduced new restrictions this week - including a ban on church services and other mass events, the closure of fitness centres and pools, and a switch to remote learning for schools.

"Testing will be free of charge," Mr Matovic announced at a press conference, but didn't clarify whether it would be mandatory or voluntary.

"If we manage to pull this off, we can set an example for the entire world."

The scheme will be piloted in some areas next weekend, ahead of the main testing taking place at the end of October and early November.

A similar protest has been planned in Prague for Sunday afternoon, against the Czech government's anti-coronavirus measures.

A social media page for the event has been shared widely on Facebook among football and hockey fan clubs, and among the far-right, the BBC's Rob Cameron reports.

Schools and bars in the Czech Republic have been shut down, but infections are still soaring.

The government said it was building its first field hospital for coronavirus patients and has has called on doctors working abroad to return home.

What is the other Covid news from Europe?
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged people to stay at home as Covid cases continue to surge.

"We have to do everything to prevent the spread of the virus from getting out of control," she told a weekly video podcast.

"Every day counts. Meet with fewer people, either at home or outside. Please refrain from any journey that is not absolutely essential, every gathering that is not absolutely essential. Stay in your home, where at all possible."

On Sunday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is going to announce more measures to counter a new wave of cases of the virus there.

Italy, which was the first European country to be hit significantly by Covid in the first wave, registered a record number of new daily cases on Saturday.

France also reported a record number of new cases of the virus on Saturday - a rise of 32,427, the health ministry said. A day earlier the country recorded 25,086 new infections.

Spain saw 11,000 more deaths between July and October than in the same period last year, according to El Pais newspaper. This is double the number of Covid deaths reported in these months - the official number from the health ministry is about 5,400.

In the Netherlands, the Dutch royal family have cut short a holiday to Greece amid intense criticism. They embarked on the controversial trip shortly after the government introduced a partial lockdown and urged people to travel as little as possible.

In a statement, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima said: "We see people's reactions to media reports. They are intense, and they affect us. We do not want to leave any doubt about it: to get the Covid-19 virus under control, it is necessary to follow the guidelines. The discussion of our holiday does not contribute to that."

What are the restrictions in Europe?
On Thursday, Poland designated red zones where schools and gyms will close, including in the capital Warsaw
Schools in Italy's southern Campania region, including the city of Naples, are to close for two weeks
In Germany bars and restaurants in higher-risk areas must close early
In Portugal, the government said gatherings would be limited to five people from Thursday. Weddings and baptisms can be attended by up to 50 people but university parties will be banned
Catalonia also said restaurants in the Spanish region would only be allowed to serve takeaway. Gyms and cultural venues will be allowed to operate at 50% capacity, while shops and large shopping centres must be limited to 30% capacity
In the Netherlands, all bars, restaurants and coffee shops closed on 14 October except for takeaway; households can have a maximum of three guests per day
Movement is limited in the Russian capital Moscow, and from Monday senior schools (for children aged 13-18) will be closed

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54585828.

 

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Over 8,100 more test positive for coronavirus, setting a new Dutch record
For the first time in the Netherlands, more than eight thousand people were reported as testing positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in a single day. Early data from public health agency RIVM released on Saturday showed that 8,141 more were infected with the virus, 25 percent more than a week ago, and nearly two percent more than the previous record set a day earlier.

This week, 45,523 people have tested positive for the viral infection, up 40 percent compared to the same period a week earlier. The three cities with the most new infections reported were Amsterdam (687), Rotterdam (407) and The Hague (302). All three showed a week-to-week increase, with Amsterdam having risen nine percent, Rotterdam up 4 percent, and The Hague showing a surge of 37 percent.

Some 216 more patients with Covid-19 were also admitted to Dutch hospitals, raising the current patient total by four percent. Another 28 people died because of the virus, pushing the Dutch death toll to 6,737.

There were 1,568 patients being treated for the coronavirus disease on Saturday, an increase of 15 compared to Friday. The total was almost 32 percent higher than a week earlier, according to data from patient coordination office LCPS.

Included in that group were 352 patients in intensive care, an increase of seven, and 1,216 outside of the ICU, an increase of eight. Two dozen more patients were transferred from busy facilities to medical centers with fewer Covid patients, but the Dutch hospitals were still able to handle the extra workload.

“The number of admitted Covid patients has increased over the past 24 hours, with the ICU increase proportionally greater than the increase in the wards, as in the previous days. We currently still have sufficient capacity to care for patients in the Netherlands; no patients have yet been moved to Germany,” said Ernst Kuipers, the head of the Dutch acute care providers network.

Of the 220,052 people who have tested positive for the virus since the end of February, at least 13,783 infected people have been hospitalized because of Covid-19 including 3,797 who were treated in intensive care. Nonprofit organization NICE said that 988 of the ICU patients died during treatment, and 2,227 were eventually released from hospital care.

Source: https://nltimes.nl/2020/10/17/8100-test-positive-coronavirus-setting-new-dutch-record.

 

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Poland reports record rise in daily coronavirus cases

Reuters
WARSAW: Poland reported a record 9,622 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, according to health ministry data published on Twitter, as fitness workers gathered in the capital to protest against fresh restrictions to fight the pandemic.
The country was initially successful in containing the virus in spring but has faced a sharp rise in the number of infections and related deaths in recent weeks, threatening to overload the health system.
Earlier this week the government urged citizens to stay at home and ordered gyms and pools to close, restaurants to limit opening hours and a shift to remote teaching in universities and secondary schools.
It is also considering building new hospitals and giving doctors incentives to treat COVID-19 patients.
Businesses, which fear the loss of jobs and profits, have criticised the restrictions, and on Saturday hundreds people representing the fitness industry protested in central Warsaw against the closure of gyms.
Poland has now confirmed 167,230 cases of the coronavirus and 3,524 deaths.
The ministry also said that as of Saturday, COVID-19 patients occupied 7,612 hospital beds and were using 604 ventilators, compared with 6,980 and 540 respectively a day earlier.
The government has said that it is trying to avoid a total lockdown, but experts say this may be inevitable if the situation becomes critical.
"If the situation is dramatic, lockdown is the only solution. We would not have other tools to control the situation," Krzysztof Pyrc, a virologist told private radio RMF. (Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko and Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by David Clarke, Kirsten Donovan)

Source: https://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/a...eports-record-rise-in-daily-coronavirus-cases.

 

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Slovakia to test whole country for coronavirus

(MENAFN - Gulf Times) Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic said Saturday the eurozone member will test every resident ages 10 and up for the coronavirus, amid an uptick in infections.
"Testing will be free of charge," he told reporters in the country of 5.4 million people, without specifying whether it will be mandatory or voluntary.
"If we manage to pull this off, we can set an example for the entire world."
A pilot run in certain areas is scheduled for next weekend, while the main testing will take place in late October and early November.
The government declared a state of emergency earlier this month in response to a surge in infections and deaths. It also introduced new restrictions this week.
Secondary schools have switched to remote learning, all mass events -- including church services -- are banned, fitness centres and pools are closed, restaurants can only serve clients outdoors.
On Saturday, the health ministry reported nearly 2,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases, bringing the total to more than 28,000.
Eleven infected individuals also died, putting the total death toll at 82.
On Saturday, around 500 people gathered outside the government building in downtown Bratislava to protest the latest anti-virus restrictions, despite a ban on gatherings of more than six people.
With many ignoring the mandatory face mask requirement, the crowd chanted "shame on you" and "gestapo" and called on Matovic to resign.
Some protesters threw rocks and glass bottles at the riot police, who for their part deployed a water cannon and tear gas against the crowd, according to video streams of the rally.

Source: https://menafn.com/1100973815/Qatar-Slovakia-to-test-whole-country-for-coronavirus.

 

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Here’s a summary of the most recent developments:

Globally, there have been 39.7m confirmed cases of Covid-19, and 1.1m deaths. The US has nearly 8.1m confirmed cases, followed by India 7.4m, and Brazil 5.2m.

England will not go into a two or three-week “circuit-break” lockdown, a senior cabinet minister said. Michael Gove insisted the government was right to ignore its scientific advisers and pursue a plan they have said is insufficient to stop the spread if not enhanced.

It is not too late to introduce an effective national lockdown in England, a senior adviser said. Sir Jeremy Farrar said the worst thing to do would be to wait until November to act.

Europe is the emerging epicentre of the current wave: a third of all new cases worldwide are being detected in western European countries. Europe is recording more new cases than India, Brazil and the US combined.

Global coronavirus cases rose by more than 400,000 for the first time late on Friday, a record one-day increase as much of Europe enacts new restrictions to curb the outbreak.

Italy had a record daily rise in cases of 10,925 and is considering toughening nationwide restrictions in response to the increase. The Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine and Malaysia also recorded their highest daily totals since the pandemic began.

The number of deaths in Iran from Covid-19 now exceeds 30,000, with the country’s health ministry saying the total number of deaths since the start of the pandemic was now 30,123.

A two week “circuit breaker” lockdown is expected to commence in Wales on 23 October that will see all but essential retail outlets close, according to a leaked letter.

Thailand has recorded its first locally transmitted cases of Covid-19 in more than a month.

The foreign ministers of Austria and Belgium have both tested positive for Covid-19.

New Zealand, which has twice eliminated the virus, reported its first local case for 22 days.

The French Collectivity of Wallis and Futuna in the South Pacific recorded its first case for the entire pandemic.

Saudi Arabia allowed its citizens and residents inside the kingdom to perform prayers in one of the most holy religious sites in Islam, Al-Haram mosque in Mecca, for the first time in seven months.

 

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Covid-19: Italy tightens rules after coronavirus cases surge

Italy has announced a new raft of measures to tighten restrictions amid a surge in coronavirus cases.

A mask-wearing PM Giuseppe Conte said the measures were needed "to avoid a new lockdown".

Mayors will get powers to close public areas after 21:00 and the opening times of restaurants and the size of groups allowed will tighten.

The moves came as Italy recorded its highest daily infection rate for the second day in a row.

Another 11,705 new cases were announced on Sunday, beating the previous record, which came a day earlier on Saturday, of 10,925.

Italy was the European nation hardest hit at the start of the pandemic. It has now recorded 414,000 confirmed coronavirus cases. Its 36,500 deaths place it second to only the UK in Europe.

What did Mr Conte say?
The prime minister said in a televised address on Sunday evening: "We cannot waste time, we must put in place measures to avoid a generalised lockdown, which could severely compromise the economy.

"The government is here but everyone has to do their part."

He added: "The most effective measures remain the basic precautions: mask, distance and hand hygiene. We must pay attention to situations where we let our guard down - with relatives and friends. In these situations, the maximum precaution is required."

What are the other Italian measures?
Changes in schooling mainly affect older pupils in high schools. Starting times will be later and more distance-learning will be encouraged
Bars and restaurants to close at midnight, but after 18:00 only table service will be allowed. The maximum in a group will be six
Local conferences and festivals are suspended
Amateur contact sports must stop
Gyms and swimming pools will have to adapt to new protocols within seven days
How is Europe coping with a surge in cases?
A number of nations have strengthened their approach to coronavirus as the so-called "second wave" of infections continues to increase.

France saw a record number of new cases on Saturday at 32,427 and there was close to another 30,000 on Sunday.

However, the rise in confirmed cases in Europe has to be set against the vastly increased testing that is now taking place compared to the first big wave back in March.

Nine major French cities, including the capital Paris, are under a 21:00 to 06:00 curfew for at least a month. Anyone out then must have a valid reason or could be fined €135 ($158; £123).

From Monday, all bars and restaurants in Belgium will be closed for four weeks, and a curfew will be in force from 00:00-05:00. with the sale of alcohol banned afer 20:00.

"I am fully aware that those measures are very, very severe," said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. "The coming weeks will be very difficult but we must take those measures to avoid the worse."

Switzerland on Sunday reacted to a sharp increase in infections by making the wearing of face-coverings in indoor public spaces compulsory from Monday. Gatherings of more than 15 people in public are also banned.

The Czech Republic said on Sunday it would wait two weeks before deciding on whether a full lockdown was needed. The country currently has the highest coronavirus infection rate in Europe and has closed most of the hospitality sector and moved schools to distance-learning.

Ireland is set to announce tighter restrictions on Monday. A minister said a localised policy had not been sufficient and implied the cabinet was looking at a "level four" approach that would close all non-essential businesses.

Germany hit a daily record of new infections on Saturday and Chancellor Angela Merkel urged people to stay at home and avoid travel where possible.

In the Netherlands, PM Mark Rutte admitted he should have given better advice to the royal family after they cut short a trip to Greece amid public anger that they were holidaying shortly after the government had introduced a partial lockdown.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54592700.

 

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China's economy continues to bounce back from virus slump

China's economy continues its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic with growth of 4.9% for the three months of July to September.

The world's second biggest economy was the first major economy to suffer from coronavirus lockdowns.

China is now leading the charge for a recovery with its latest gross domestic product (GDP) figures for the third quarter of 2020.

However, the growth is lower than the 5.2% expected by economists.

For the first three months of this year China’s economy shrank by 6.8% when its saw nationwide shutdowns of factories and manufacturing plants.

It was the first time China’s economy contracted since it started recording quarterly figures in 1992.

Gathering pace
The key growth figures released on Monday suggest that China’s economic recovery is gathering pace.

Retail sales grew by 0.9% in the third quarter, the first time they’ve shown any improvement this year.

The quarterly figures are compared to the same quarter of 2019.

China’s trade figures for September also pointed to a strong recovery, with exports growing by 9.9% and imports growing by 13.2% compared to September last year.

Over the previous two decades, China had seen an average economic growth rate of about 9%, although experts often questioned the accuracy of China’s economic data.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54594877.

 

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Coronavirus in Australia: Victoria to ease lockdown as cases fall

Officials are easing tight coronavirus restrictions in the state of Victoria after more than 100 days of lockdown.

From Monday, people will be able to travel further and meet up with more friends without a time limit on how long they spend outside the home.

But strict measures remain in place for restaurants and retailers, limiting them to takeaway and delivery options.

The city of Melbourne, which has been under stricter lockdown, will also have rules eased.

As of 19 October, in Melbourne:

People can travel up to 25km (15 miles) from their home for exercise or shopping
Gatherings of up to 10 people from two different households are allowed
There will be no more time limit on outdoor socialising and exercise
Hairdressers, tennis courts, golf courses and skate parks reopen, subject to Covid-19 restrictions
In addition, in regional Victoria:

Two adults and two children will now be allowed to visit another person's home
Hospitality venues will be allowed to accommodate 70 patrons outside and 40 inside
"I know these changes can't be absolutely everything everyone wants," State Premier Daniel Andrews said.

"But they are the steps we can safely take that will make life a little bit easier.

"Follow the rules and get the numbers in Melbourne as low as they are in regional Victoria. Then we will all be able to move freely around our state."

State officials also hope to further ease restrictions on 2 November - including allowing home visits for small groups, no restrictions on reasons why people can leave home, more businesses to reopen and larger gatherings.

But many business owners are frustrated that they cannot reopen, or that tight restrictions remain in place. Beauty therapist Brooke Allan told broadcaster ABC she was disappointed that her businesses was not on the list of those allowed to reopen yet.

"We can't book our clients in, we've just been told so many different dates," she said. "It's really difficult just being in this limbo all the time."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison welcomed the decision to loosen the strict controls but sympathised with businesses' "frustration and concern".

"Every day Victoria remains under restrictions to get the second wave in Victoria under control comes at a heavy cost," he said in a joint statement with the treasurer and health minister.

He and his government have been urging Victoria to ease its measures faster and further in recent weeks as case numbers have dipped.

According to Victoria's health department, the state recorded 2 cases in the last 24 hours on Sunday. This is far below a peak of 687 reported on 4 August.

Overall Australia has recorded more than 27,000 infections since the pandemic began.

New case numbers have dropped recently, allowing the country to open a travel bubble with New Zealand on 2 October. The first travellers arrived in Sydney from Auckland on Friday.

However, they have already run into trouble, with 55 of the arrivals travelling on from Sydney to Victoria. Under the original agreement, they could only stay in New South Wales and the Northern Territory without the need for a mandatory quarantine.

Victoria health authorities said their officials "continue to meet incoming flights at Melbourne Airport and provide information to arriving passengers" about local coronavirus regulations.

Officials in Western Australia have also announced that 23 people have arrived in the state from New Zealand. They are all in quarantine.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-54592122.

 

[MenInG]

Ireland has announced it will move to the highest level of COVID-19 restrictions from midnight on Wednesday for six weeks until 1 December with all non-essential retail outlets closing and household gatherings banned

 

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Spain adds nearly 38,000 coronavirus cases over weekend, 217 deaths

MADRID — Spain’s cumulative tally of coronavirus infections increased by 37,889 over the weekend, bringing the nationwide total to 974,449, health ministry data showed on Monday.

Total deaths from the virus increased by 217 to 33,992, according to the ministry.

In recent weeks, Spain has frequently reported more than 12,000 cases per day after hitting a record of more than 16,000 in mid-September. (Reporting by Nathan Allen, editing by Andrei Khalip)

Source: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health...000-coronavirus-cases-over-weekend-217-deaths.

 

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Spain mulls curfew in next step to curb coronavirus spread

Authorities in the Madrid region are weighing up whether to introduce a city-wide curfew on residents once the current State of Emergency is lifted.
The Spanish government said Tuesday it was considering imposing a nighttime curfew to halt a rise in virus infections as has been put in place in other European nations like France and Belgium.

"The possibility of imposing a curfew, I insist, is something we have to consider. We have to study that possibility and we are open to everything," Health Minister Salvador Illa told a news conference.

The minister said "several" regional governments, which he did not name, had proposed the measure and the central government was considering the request but his comments came hours after Madrid regional health chief called for such a move.

“The curfew would allow ... that at some hours there’s no mobility, like France has done for example,” Madrid region health chief Enrique Ruiz Escudero told Europa Press in an interview on Tuesday.

But Escudero admitted that there was currently no legal framework for regional authorities to impose the order, adding that they would have to ask the central government to pass the measure.

The curfew would see residents confined to their homes between certain hours following measures that have already been introduced in Paris and eight other cities across France.

The measure introduced by President Emmanuel Macron’s government last weeks orders citizens in France’s most blighted cities to stay inside their homes between 9pm and 6am, unless they have a valid reason to be outside (such as work, medical errands or other exceptions).

His comments came amid growing uncertainty on what would happen once the State of Emergency expires.

The measure was imposed on the Madrid region by the central government after regional authorities made a legal appeal against a Health Ministry order in a political spat that has hampered the battle to control coronavirus infections.

But it expires on Saturday unless the government seeks for the order to be extended, a move which needs the approval of a majority of lawmakers in Spain’s Congress and which is unlikely to occur.

Escudero also suggested that Madrid regional government was considering a return to the plan that saw smaller “health zones” confined based on the epidemiological evidence rather than the situation of a perimeter confinement around Madrid city limits.

Imposing a curfew would require invoking a state of emergency on a national level and the government would want to have the support of the main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) to adopt it, Illa explained.

Source: https://www.thelocal.es/20201020/ma...ew-in-next-step-to-curb-coronavirus-contagion.

 

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Daily coronavirus cases in the Netherlands hit a record 8,114

People look at a store's display following the new social restrictions announced by the Dutch government, as the Netherlands battle to control the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Amsterdam, Netherlands. REUTERS/Eva Plevier
The Netherlands hit a new record for daily coronavirus cases, with more than 8,000 infections in the past 24 hours, data released on Saturday showed, writes Stephanie van den Berg.

The number of confirmed cases climbed 8,114, according to daily figures compiled by the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM).

Source: https://www.eureporter.co/frontpage...jYGFib7qWgm-_uD9OMLTZ2wnGMUyEnXK7Vq69ocPzh-QQ.

 

[MenInG]

14 European countries record daily cases records

Latvia (188), Bosnia & Herzegovina (728), Romania (4,848) and Switzerland (5,596) join the list we reported at lunchtime.

Earlier, the following records were announced:
Netherlands - 8,500 new cases

Armenia - 1,836

Lithuania - 311
Czechia - 11,984

Ukraine - 6,719

Poland - 10,040

Croatia - 1,424

Slovenia - 1,503

Slovakia - 2,202

Bulgaria - 1,336

 

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Coronavirus: Spain passes one million Covid-19 cases

Spain has recorded more than one million coronavirus cases, becoming the first western European country to pass that landmark figure.

On Wednesday the country reported 16,973 infections and 156 deaths in the previous 24 hours.

Since its first diagnosed case on 31 January, Spain has now recorded a total of 1,005,295 infections.

It is the sixth nation worldwide to report one million cases after the US, India, Brazil, Russia and Argentina.

Europe has seen a surge in new infections over the last few months, forcing governments to bring in strict new regulations to try and control outbreaks and ensure hospitals do not become overwhelmed.

What's the situation in Spain?
Spain was hit hard by coronavirus in the first months of the pandemic, and brought in some of the strictest measures to tackle it - including banning children from going outside.

Like most European countries, the country lessened its regulations as case numbers dropped. Politicians highlighted the need to bring back tourists as a way to boost the struggling economy.

But by the end of August new daily case numbers were rising by 10,000 a day. Hospital admissions have ticked up by 20% in the past two weeks alone, while deaths have also begun to rise, with the toll climbing by 218 on Tuesday.

In total, 34,366 Covid-related deaths have been recorded.

Lawmakers however are bitterly divided over how to handle the situation. Politicians in the national parliament were debating a no-confidence motion in Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday filed by the far-right Vox Party, while central government has clashed repeatedly with regional leaders over how best to proceed.

Earlier this month, Madrid's centre-right authorities successfully had a partial lockdown imposed on the capital overturned in court. But the Spanish government then ordered a 15-day state of emergency in the city.

The health minister will meet with regional leaders on Thursday to discuss next steps.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54638347.

 

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Coronavirus: France extends overnight curfew as cases surge

France will extend an overnight curfew to dozens more areas in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Jean Castex has announced.

"The second wave is now under way," he said, shortly before the country announced a record 41,622 new cases.

The 21:00 to 06:00 curfew will come into force at midnight on Friday, and some 46 million people will now be affected by the measure.

Countries around Europe are struggling with rising infection rates.

France, Italy, Spain and the UK are all hotspots.

"The coming weeks will be hard and the number of deaths will continue to rise," Mr Castex told a press conference on Thursday. Over the last 24 hours France recorded 162 more deaths.

"If we fail to stop the pandemic, we will be facing a dire situation and we will have to mull much tougher measures," he added.

"We still have time to avoid that but we don't have much time," he said.

The prime minister's announcement came less than a week after the same curfew was applied to the Paris region and eight other cities, including Marseille, Lyon, Lille and Toulouse.

The restrictions will be extended to 38 more administrative departments as well as the overseas territory of Polynesia, and will remain in place for six weeks.

The overnight curfew has drawn complaints from restaurant owners, whose businesses are already suffering after the two-month lockdown in the spring.

But President Emmanuel Macron has said they are necessary to avoid the risk of hospitals being overrun.

France has reported more than 20,000 new cases over the past six days, and the total number of confirmed infections now stands at nearly one million.

Elsewhere in Europe:
New "level 5" rules have come into force in Ireland - the highest level of Covid restrictions there. Its five million people have been ordered to stay at home for six weeks

A second lockdown is in force in the Czech Republic which is facing a big surge in cases. Prime Minister Andrej Babis said the harsh restrictions were needed to avoid hospitals being overwhelmed

Slovakia is closing schools until 27 November, imposing a week-long lockdown on its four most affected districts, a partial lockdown on the rest of the country, and embarking on two rounds of testing for the whole population, PM Igor Matovic said on Thursday

Greece's prime minister has declared a night curfew in Athens and other areas. It will come into force from Saturday and applies between 00:30 and 05:00

Germany has announced a record 11,287 daily number of infections. Health Minister Jens Spahn has himself caught coronavirus. The country also added the UK to its list of high risk countries from which visitors must quarantine

In the UK, officials announced that the urban areas of Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry and Slough would move into tier two restrictions on Saturday. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in all of these areas the infection rate was over 100 per 100,000 people

Italy's Lazio region around Rome has joined two other Italian regions in declaring overnight curfews. Lombardy in the north starts its curfew at 23:00 (21:00GMT) on Thursday, and Campania and Lazio will follow suit on Friday. Prof Walter Ricciardi, who advises the government on health, has warned that "some metropolitan areas like Milan, Naples and probably Rome are already out of control"

Spain is the first EU country to record one million infections and the northern region of Navarre has imposed restrictions on movement. The Rioja wine region says it will do the same

Belgium's 45-year-old Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes has been admitted to intensive care after testing positive for Covid-19 last week. Her spokeswoman said she was in a "stable" condition. Meanwhile, health workers have raised concerns over the rising number of cases in the country, with the head of a coronavirus testing centre in the city of Liège warning that the "situation is close to catastrophe"

The Netherlands may begin transferring patients to Germany within two days as its health system faces increasing strain from coronavirus admissions, the hospital association LNAZ said. The Netherlands also registered more than 9,000 new cases in a new daily record

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54646533.

 

[Firebat]

Coronavirus: France puts 46 million under night curfew

The French government is imposing a curfew on two-thirds of the country - 46 million people - from Friday night for six weeks, after a record 41,622 new coronavirus infections in one day.

The total infected in the epidemic has now passed one million. In Europe, only Spain and Russia have reached that.

A week ago night curfews were introduced in Paris and eight other French cities. Now 38 more areas will have curfews from 21:00 to 06:00.

Most of Europe has rising infections.

Slovakia is to impose a partial lockdown for a week from Saturday, allowing only travel to work, shopping for essentials and school for younger children.

New lockdowns have come into force in the Czech Republic and Republic of Ireland.

There are also high infection rates in Belgium, Spain and Italy, putting many hospitals under severe pressure.

Italy's Lazio and Campania regions begin night curfews on Friday, a day after one took effect in Lombardy in the north.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54658369

 

[sweep_shot]

Virus to stay 'at least until next summer' - France's Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron says his country will be fighting the virus until at least the middle of next year as cases there surged past a million.

On Friday France recorded more than 40,000 new cases and 298 deaths. Other nations including Russia, Poland, Italy and Switzerland also saw new highs.

The World Health Organization said the spike in European cases was a critical moment in the fight against the virus.

It called for quick action to prevent health services being overwhelmed.

Daily infections in Europe have more than doubled in the past 10 days. The continent has now seen a total of 7.8m cases and about 247,000 deaths.

"The next few months are going to be very tough and some countries are on a dangerous track," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.

Globally there have been more than 42m cases and 1.1m deaths.

What is happening in France?
Speaking on a visit to a hospital in the Paris region, Mr Macron said scientists were telling him that they believed the virus would be present "at best until next summer", he said.

But he said it was still too early to say whether France would go into a new full or partial lockdown.

An overnight curfew in the country is being extended to about two-thirds of the country - 46 million people - from Friday night for six weeks.

The curfew could be relaxed when new infections dropped back down to between 3,000 and 5,000 a day, Mr Macron said - a level of infection that was last seen at the end of August.

Meanwhile the head of a Paris hospital group warned that the second wave of infections could be worse than the first.

"There has been a perception in recent months that a second wave does not exist, or that it is a small wave. The situation is the opposite," Martin Hirsch, the head of the AP-HP hospital group, told local media.

Many of those currently in intensive care in his hospitals were older people who had been self-isolating but had become infected when their children visited them, Mr Hirsch said.

"There are many positive people, infectious, in the streets without knowing it and without anyone else knowing it," he added.

Covid patients currently occupy nearly half of France's 5,000 intensive care beds.

And Prime Minister Jean Castex said a further influx of patients was likely - "The new cases of today are the hospitalised patients of tomorrow. The month of November will be difficult," he said.

What about Spain?
Earlier this week Spain became the first EU country to record a million cases - but on Friday Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the "real number" of cases was probably more than three million.

Mr Sánchez urged Spaniards to show "determination, social discipline and the necessary union" but did not announce any new measures to combat the spread of the virus.

The health minister and some regional governments have urged Mr Sánchez to impose an overnight curfew but other regional administrations have been reluctant, fearing the economic impact.

The prime minister - whose Socialist party does not have a majority in parliament - says a nationwide curfew would require a new state of emergency and he wants all regional governments to agree before taking this step.

A two-week partial lockdown on Madrid - which had been resisted by city officials - is due to end on Saturday and the city will then ban households from meeting indoors between midnight and 06:00. Capacity in bars will be limited to 50%.

Meanwhile the regions of Castilla y León and Valencia are to impose their own curfews and the southern region of Andalucía is to bring a curfew in in the city of Granada.

However, Mr Sánchez said the current situation was not comparable to March, when the central government imposed a strict lockdown. The median age of those infected has also fallen.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54669060.

 

[sweep_shot]

Rutte: Lockdown not impossible; Coronavirus measures could change next week
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte expressed deep concern for the escalating numbers of coronavirus infections in the Netherlands at his weekly press conference on Friday. He refused to exclude any single measure to bring the infections under control, including a stricter lockdown and a curfew, saying, "All scenarios are on the table."

He spoke in The Hague after the conclusion of a meeting of Cabinet ministers, about one hour after public health agency RIVM said over ten thousand more residents had tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 infection, the most reported in a single day. He said it was still too early to draw any conclusions, even as the record for new infections reported in a single day has been broken seven out of the ten days the partial lockdown policy has been enforced.

Rutte confirmed again that the impact of the partial lockdown would be evaluated once it had been in place for two weeks. That sets up the possibility for a press conference on Tuesday, with the current stricter measures having gone into effect on 14 October.

A growing number of experts in virology and healthcare have called for a full lockdown of at least two weeks to get the situation back under control. One of the 25 security regions, Twente, also called for a total lockdown earlier this week after seeing a surge in new coronavirus infections.

Rutte lamented over the "enormous consequences" that a total lockdown could bring about. "We hope to see the effect of the partial lockdown soon," Rutte said. "We will come back to that as soon as there is more to report."

He did say that the closing schools and care homes negatively affects the lives and livelihoods of too many people. With some experts also saying a school closure might be necessary to slow the second wave of infections, Rutte also affirmed that all options were on the table if need be.

When the partial lockdown was announced, Rutte and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said it would likely remain for four weeks. Moments before the Friday press conference, De Jonge told reporters that members of the Cabinet would meet at the Prime Minister's official residence on Sunday for the third time in a month, and a decision could be made on Monday about when the next national prime time press conference will take place.

While it was too soon to say anything concrete, the spread of the virus has to get back under control for restrictions to be loosened, Rutte suggested. The basic reproduction number of the virus stood at 1.22 this week, meaning 100 contagious people were likely to infect 122 others. "The reproduction number must go back below 1, that's the purpose of the current package of measures," he said.

Source: https://nltimes.nl/2020/10/23/rutte-lockdown-impossible-coronavirus-measures-change-next-week.

 

[sweep_shot]

Spain PM Sánchez: 3 million people have been infected by the coronavirus in Spain

Spain has far more coronavirus infections than reported
We need to do more to fight the pandemic
But need to avoid a nationwide lockdown as seen in March
Health system is better prepared to tackle the pandemic now
There's no saying where he is getting the headline figure from, but that is triple the amount of reported confirmed cases in Spain currently. The official tally just surpassed 1,000,000 cases earlier this week - having doubled to that in just six weeks.

I mean there are stories out there of people having to self-isolate and not getting an official test during the peak of the pandemic, but three times the total is staggering.

That will see Spain double the number of reported cases in Russia and put them just behind Brazil, India and the US. Yet, the figure will only represent just 6% of the Spanish population - not even close to an argument for herd immunity.

Source: https://www.forexlive.com/news/!/sp...infected-by-the-coronavirus-in-spain-20201023.

 

[Firebat]

Europe becomes second region to cross 250,000 deaths as second COVID wave hits

(Reuters) - Europe became the second region after Latin America to surpass 250,000 deaths on Saturday, according to a Reuters tally, with record numbers of daily COVID-19 infections reported in the past two weeks.

Europe reported 200,000 daily infections for the first time on Thursday, as many Southern European countries this week reported their highest number of cases in a single day.

Europe accounts for nearly 19% of global deaths and about 22% of global cases, according to a Reuters tally.

The United Kingdom, Italy, France, Russia, Belgium and Spain account for nearly two-thirds of about 250,000 deaths registered until now from a total of about 8 million cases across Europe.

The United Kingdom leads Europe’s death toll with about 45,000 deaths, followed by Italy, Spain, France and Russia. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday Britain cannot rely on a vaccine and will need to use other measures to slow the pandemic.

Based on last seven-days daily reported average deaths, Russia is reporting 250 deaths per day, Europe’s highest toll, followed by the United Kingdom and France with about 143 deaths each.

France became the seventh country to report more than 1 million coronavirus cases on Friday. It has been one of the countries hardest hit in the second wave and has imposed curfews across much of the nation.

The average number of COVID-19 deaths reported each day in France has been increasing for 10 days straight, according to Reuters analysis.

Spain recently crossed 1 million cases and is reporting 136 fatalities on the latest seven-day average of reported deaths. Its death rate of about 7.38 per 10,000 people is the highest in Europe and second highest in the world after Peru.

The global coronavirus tally stands at about 42.1 million cases and 1.1 million deaths, according to a Reuters tally.

While health services have not so far been overwhelmed to the extent they were in the first wave, medical authorities have warned of a likely surge in demand for intensive care beds as colder weather forces more people indoors and infections spread.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...eaths-as-second-covid-wave-hits-idUSKBN2790FO

 

[Firebat]

Asia becomes second region to exceed 10 million coronavirus cases

(Reuters) - Asia surpassed 10 million infections of the new coronavirus on Saturday, the second-heaviest regional toll in the world, according to a Reuters tally, as cases continue to mount in India despite a slowdown and sharp declines elsewhere.

Behind only Latin America, Asia accounts for about one-fourth of the global caseload of 42.1 million of the virus. With over 163,000 deaths, the region accounts for some 14% of the global COVID-19 toll.

The Reuters tally is based on official reporting by countries. The true numbers of cases and deaths are likely much higher, experts say, given deficiencies in testing and potential underreporting in many countries.

Despite the Asian spikes, the region overall has reported improvement in handling the pandemic in recent weeks, with daily caseloads slowing in places like India - a sharp contrast to the COVID-19 resurgence seen in Europe and North America.

Within the region, South Asia led by India is the worst affected, with nearly 21% of the reported global coronavirus cases and 12% of deaths. This contrasts with countries like China and New Zealand that have crushed infections and Japan, where COVID-19 had been stubbornly entrenched but not accelerating.

India is the worst-hit country in the world after the United States, although infections are slowing in the world’s second-most populous country. India is reporting more than 57,000 cases of the virus a day, viewed on a weekly average, with 58 new cases per 10,000 people in Asia’s third-largest economy, according to a Reuters analysis.

India is averaging 764 COVID-19 deaths a day, the worst in the world and accounting for one in every 13 global pandemic deaths.

The country has reported nearly 7.8 million infections, behind the U.S. tally of 8.5 million, and nearly 118,000 deaths, versus 224,128 in the United States. Unlike the recent U.S. surge, however, India’s slowdown saw the lowest daily caseload in nearly three months on Wednesday.

But India’s infections may surge again, doctors fear, with a holiday approaching and winter bringing more severe pollution from farmers burning stubble, worsening the breathing difficulties that many COVID-19 patients suffer.

India’s eastern neighbour Bangladesh is Asia’s second-worst hit country, with nearly 400,000 cases. But daily infections have slowed to 1,453, less than 40% of the July peak.

Although the pandemic is slowing in Bangladesh, the world’s biggest apparel producer after China faces harsh recession as a second wave of COVID-19 hits key markets in Europe and the United States.

Even if the country is making progress on controlling the disease, leaders of the key garment sector say international retailers are delaying orders or demanding steep price cuts, forcing them to lay off their workers. Some 1 million workers were furloughed or laid off. About one-third of those have been rehired since July, according to union leaders.

In Southeast Asia, Indonesia surpassed the Philippines last week as the worst-hit nation with more than 370,000 infections.

The world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia has struggled to get its outbreak under control. With the country due to host soccer’s under-20 World Cup next year, the government is racing to secure a supply of vaccines still under development, which some epidemiologists say means seeking a “silver bullet” solution before full vaccine efficacy and safety is known.

The Philippines, which last week reported its biggest daily tally in a month, has put partial coronavirus restrictions around the capital Manila until Oct. 31 to check COVID-19..

Despite Asia’s patchy record, a World Health Organization expert said on Monday that Europe and North America should follow the example of Asian states in persevering with anti-COVID measures and quarantine restrictions for infected people.

Mike Ryan, head of the UN agency’s emergencies programme, said the global death toll from COVID-19 could double to 2 million before a successful vaccine is widely used and could be even higher without concerted action to curb the pandemic.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ed-10-million-coronavirus-cases-idUSKBN27909A

 

[sweep_shot]

Naples police clash with hundreds of coronavirus protesters over lockdown

Naples police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of people protesting the government’s push to introduce tougher measures in response to rising coronavirus infections that saw nearly 20,000 new cases detected across Italy in the last 24 hours.

Demonstrators marched through the streets of Campania's regional capital and gathered in front of the seat of the regional government, throwing projectiles at police and setting fire to rubbish bins until the early hours of Saturday.

Protesters chanted slogans and carried signs that read: "If you close, you pay. "

Calls were made on social media to challenge Campania's decision to impose a stricter curfew that took effect ahead of the weekend. The southern Italian region had already closed most of its schools and imposed a nighttime curfew.



Calls for lockdown



Campania Governor Vincenzo De Luca announced Friday the region would go into lockdown after Campania recorded at least 2,280 daily cases, a nearly 50% increase from the 1,541 reported a day earlier.

"We are on the verge of tragedy, we need a national lockdown," De Luca said. "We will proceed toward closing everything."

He proposed a shutdown of up to 40 days to contain the virus in the region.

The decree implementing the measure will be adopted on Saturday or Sunday, a news agency reported, quoting regional government sources.

Daily cases in Italy have jumped sevenfold since the beginning of October, soaring to 19,143 on Friday and raising concerns that the pandemic is escalating out of control.

Daily deaths have also been climbing all month, totaling 91 on Friday, but they have so far been fewer than the height of the first wave in the spring when the peak of daily deaths topped 900.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said he wanted to avoid another national lockdown that could hurt the country's weakened economy, arguing that the economic and social cost would be too high. Regional leaders, however, can establish their own rules when it comes to lockdowns.

Italy, the first European country to be badly hit by the virus, has now registered nearly 500,000 cases and 37,000 deaths.

Source: https://timesofoman.com/article/nap...dreds-of-coronavirus-protesters-over-lockdown.

 

[sweep_shot]

Coronavirus: additional ventilators dispatched to Czechia via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism

Following Thursday's announcement by President von der Leyen that the EU is sending 30 ventilators from the rescEU medical reserve, Austria and the Netherlands are now also answering Czechia's request for assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. With 15 ventilators from Austria, 105 from the Netherlands and 30 from rescEU the request of 150 ventilators from Czechia is fully answered to. Austria has also offered 30 high-flow nasal oxygen therapy devices.

“At a time when most of Europe is again struggling with the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, I thank Austria and the Netherlands for their support through our EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre continues to work closely with civil protection authorities from all participating states and we are ready to channel more assistance to Czechia. We must continue to fight this virus together,” said Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič.

This support comes on top of 620,000 masks and 50,000 protective gowns already delivered from the rescEU reserve, as well as in-kind assistance provided to 22 countries in need via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

Background
The rescEU reserve includes different types of medical equipment, such as protective masks or medical ventilators used in intensive care, and is constantly replenished. The reserve is hosted by several Member States who are responsible for procuring the equipment. The European Commission finances 100% of the assets, including storage and transport. Currently 6 EU countries host rescEU: Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Sweden and Romania.

The Emergency Response Coordination Centre of the EU manages the distribution of the equipment to ensure it goes where it is needed most, based on the needs expressed by countries requesting EU assistance under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

Earlier on in the outbreak, via the Civil Protection Mechanism, the Commission mobilised European Medical Teams for Italy composed of nurses and doctors, helped dispatch ventilators, masks and disinfectants across Europe, as well as repatriating more than 80,000 EU citizens on EU funded flights.

Source: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_1982.

 

[sweep_shot]

Spain on brink of second state of emergency over surging coronavirus infections
Night-time curfews could be implemented across Spain with the country's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez set to make the announcement tomorrow morning after calling an urgent meeting with ministers

Spain is hours away from entering a new state of emergency as after a massive rise in coronavirus cases.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is due to make the announcement tomorrow morning after calling an urgent meeting with ministers.

It comes as cases there hit 1,046,132 and deaths reached a total of 34,752 since the start of the outbreak.

The country is unlikely to be plunged into a total lockdown as happened in March but it will give individual regions the legal powers to impose new night-time curfews, mostly from midnight to 6am

Eight regions have already signalled their intention to do so - Asturias, the Basque Country, La Rioja, Catalonia, Navarre, Cantabria, Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha, as well as the North African city of Melilla.

The regions requesting the curfews say the intention is not to confine people to their homes but to limit mobility.

Health Minister Salvador Illa has voiced his support for night-time curfews and had already indicated that the declaration of a state of emergency would be necessary so police could legally enforce it.

The Spanish Constitution includes the state of alarm or emergency as a tool that can be used "in health crisis such as pandemics" and allows governments to limit the movement of people at certain times and places.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister admitted the coronavirus situation in Spain was "serious" and that movements had to be slowed down to slow contagions.

"The situation is not comparable to the month of March and we have to do all we can to prevent a repeat of that lockdown," he said.

"We have to reduce movement and interpersonal contact, that way we will reduce the possibility of contagion."

"We need maximum collaboration from the general public. The coming winter months will be tough.

"We must limit gatherings, now is the time to establish distances. We must make sure that with this second wave we can stop the transmission of the virus without halting life."

The government has set a target to bring the spread of coronavirus down to 25 cases per 100,000 residents.

It may also introduce a four-tier system which would be applied in degrees in the different regions depending on their figures. The tiers would be low risk, medium risk, high risk or extreme risk.

Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/breaking-spain-brink-second-state-22901389.

 

[sweep_shot]

Italy plans further curbs as coronavirus cases hit new record

MILAN — Italy reported another daily record for COVID-19 cases on Saturday as the government planned further restrictions to contain a resurgence of the pandemic, despite a second night of street protests against curfews ordered this week.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has said he wants to avoid a repeat of the blanket lockdown earlier in the year. But a number of regions have imposed overnight curfews and the central government is expected to announce more measures soon.

After clashes in the southern city of Naples on Friday night, police faced off against dozens of masked protestors in the center of Rome after the far-right Forza Nuova group called for a protest against the curfews.

Earlier, health ministry data showed 19,644 new COVID cases and 151 dead as the disease surged in areas like Lombardy, Milan, Campania and Lazio.

Conte pledged to speed up help for businesses suffering in the crisis but said the weeks ahead would be very difficult. “We cannot lower our guard,” he added.

According to a draft decree circulated on Saturday, public gyms and swimming pools may be closed and bars and restaurants told to shut from 6 p.m., while people will be encouraged not to travel outside their home districts.

Like many authorities across Europe, the Italian government is desperate not to close down the economy completely but is facing growing public anger at renewed restrictions being imposed to limit public gatherings.

Earlier in the week, overnight curfews were ordered by local governors in Campania, the area around Naples, Lazio around Rome, and Lombardy, the epicenter of the first wave where the financial capital Milan recorded more than 1,000 new cases on Saturday.

The northern region of Piedmont and Sicily in the south will follow next week and other regions are expected to match them.

With public health services coming under strain, authorities have reopened temporary intensive care facilities built during the first phase. Despite this, Italy’s top public health body warned on Friday services were approaching crisis point. (Additional reporting by Guglielmo Mangiapane in Rome; Editing by Alison Williams, James Drummond and Jonathan Oatis)

Source: https://financialpost.com/pmn/busin...r-curbs-as-coronavirus-cases-hit-new-record-2.

 

[sweep_shot]

South Korean authorities stick to flu vaccine plan after deaths rise to 48

SEOUL (Reuters) - The number of South Koreans who have died after getting flu shots has risen to 48, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Saturday, adding that the vaccines would continue to reduce the chance of having simultaneous epidemics.

The health authorities said they found no direct link between the deaths and the shots. They plan to carry on with the state-run vaccination programme to try to avoid having to fight both the flu and the coronavirus over the coming winter.

“After reviewing death cases so far, it is not the time to suspend a flu vaccination programme since vaccination is very crucial this year, considering ... the COVID-19 outbreaks,” KDCA Director Jeong Eun-kyung told a briefing.

Jeong said the review had shown no direct link between the flu shots and the 26 deaths that have been investigated.

Some 20 initial autopsy results from the police and the National Forensic Service showed that 13 people died of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and other disorders not caused by the vaccination.

The death toll among those who have been vaccinated rose by 12 cases from a day earlier to 48 on Saturday.

The rising deaths have caused some doctors and politicians to call for a halt to the government campaign to vaccinate about 30 million of the country’s 54 million people.

While encouraging people to get flu vaccines, Jeong issued precautions to take before getting the shot, such as drinking enough water and telling healthcare workers about any underlying medical conditions. She also advised people to wait 15-30 minutes before leaving the clinic where they receive their vaccine.

“If possible, try to get the flu shot when it’s warm, since there are concerns that low temperatures could affect cardiovascular disease or cerebrovascular disease,” she said.

The KDCA said 9.4 million people had been inoculated as of Friday in the programme that began in September, with 1,154 cases of adverse reactions.

South Korea reported 77 new coronavirus cases as of Friday midnight, bringing total infections to 25,775, with 457 deaths.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ne-plan-after-deaths-rise-to-48-idINKBN2790G8.

 

[sweep_shot]

Brazil reports 432 new coronavirus deaths on Saturday

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Brazil has registered 432 additional coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 26,979 new cases, the health ministry said on Saturday.

The South American nation has now registered 156,903 total coronavirus deaths and 4,817,898 total confirmed cases. (Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/hea...-coronavirus-deaths-on-saturday-idUSL1N2HF0P4.

 

[Firebat]

Coronavirus: Italy shuts cinemas, gyms and pools in Covid fight

Italy is shutting cinemas, swimming pools and gyms from Monday in a further attempt to curb the rapid rise in coronavirus infections.

Bars and restaurants will have to close by 18:00 but shops and the majority of businesses will remain operating.

Meanwhile, Spain's cabinet on Sunday agreed a nationwide "state of alarm", which would allow for a countrywide curfew, Spanish media report.

Both countries were hit hard during the first wave of the pandemic in Europe.

Italy's measures were agreed between Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and regional leaders.

The Campania region, which contains Naples, has been among those calling for tighter restrictions.

Mr Conte has said he does not want to repeat the national lockdown imposed during the first wave in March and April because of the economic damage caused.

Under the new measures, the bulk of secondary school teaching will be conducted online instead of in the classroom.

The Italian move comes amid demonstrations in Naples, and then Rome, against stricter coronavirus measures.

Saturday saw a new daily record of cases in Italy of more than 19,600. The number of deaths was 151.

Spain has passed one million cases since the start of the pandemic and nearly 35,000 people have died.

The latest measure agreed by Spain's Socialist government, with the backing of the centre-right Ciudadanos and separatist parties from the Basque country and Catalonia, imposes a nationwide curfew between 23:00 local time (22:00GMT) and 06:00, Spanish media report.

It also restricts social gatherings and movement between districts except for work and medical reasons.

More than half of the country's 17 regions had called on the central government to tighten restrictions. The "state of alarm", which allows for the curfew and other measures, will be in force for 15 days. The same level of emergency was introduced during the first wave of the pandemic in April.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was scheduled to make a statement on Sunday afternoon.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54682222

 

[sweep_shot]

Covid: Spain imposes national night-time curfew to curb infections

Spain has declared a national state of emergency and imposed a night-time curfew in an effort to help control a new spike in Covid-19 infections.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the curfew, between the hours of 23:00 and 06:00, would come into force on Sunday.

Under the emergency measures, local authorities can also ban travel between regions, Mr Sánchez said.

He said he would ask parliament to extend the new rules, initially in force for 15 days, to six months.

Spain was hit hard during the first wave of the pandemic earlier this year and imposed a much more restrictive lockdown - one of the toughest in the world.

Like many other European regions, however, it has been hit by a second wave of infections.

In Italy, new restrictions were also announced on Sunday. The government said the steady rise in cases there was causing a huge strain on the country's health services.

Meanwhile France has reported a record number of daily infections. A total of 52,010 infections were reported in the last 24 hours, up from just over 45,000 on Saturday.

What are Spain's emergency measures?
Mr Sánchez said different regions would have up to an hour of flexibility if they wanted to modify the duration of the overnight curfew.

Restrictions on movement between districts would be determined by regional leaders and was likely to be dependent on work and medical needs, he added.

The new measures announced include a limit on public and private gatherings of different households to a maximum of six people.

"The situation we are going through is extreme," Mr Sánchez said in a televised address on Sunday, adding: "It is the most serious in the past half century."

More than half of Spain's 17 regions had been calling for tighter restrictions, and the latest measures will apply to all regions except the Canary Islands.

The same level of emergency was introduced during the first wave of the pandemic in April.

Spain has passed one million cases since it began and nearly 35,000 people have died.

What is Italy doing to curb infections?
Italy is shutting cinemas, swimming pools, theatres and gyms from Monday.

Bars, restaurants and cafes will have to stop table service by 18:00. But shops and the majority of businesses will remain operating.

Italy's measures were agreed between Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and regional leaders.

"We think that we will suffer a bit this month but by gritting our teeth with these restrictions, we'll be able to breathe again in December," Mr Conte told a news conference on Sunday.

The prime minister has said he does not want to repeat the national lockdown imposed during the first wave in March and April because of the economic damage caused.

Under the new measures, the bulk of secondary school teaching will be conducted online instead of in the classroom.

The Italian move comes amid demonstrations in Naples, and then Rome, against stricter coronavirus measures, including curfews announced last week.

Sunday saw a new daily record of cases in Italy of more than 21,200. The number of deaths was 128.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54682222.

 

[sweep_shot]

Coronavirus cases in the Netherlands hit new record, up by more than 10,000

AMSTERDAM, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The number of coronavirus infections in the Netherlands jumped by more than 10,000 in 24 hours, hitting a new record, data released by the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) on Sunday showed.

The RIVM reported 10,203 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The Dutch government imposed partial lockdown measures to contain the spread of the virus on Oct. 14, including the closure of all bars and restaurants in the country. (Reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Toby Sterling Editing by Susan Fenton)

Source: https://www.marketscreener.com/news...-new-record-up-by-more-than-10-000--31604473/.

 

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Bulgarian PM has 'general malaise' after testing positive for coronavirus

SOFIA — Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on Sunday he had a “general malaise” after testing positive for coronavirus and would stay at home for now for any treatment, as recommended by his doctors.

Borissov, who on Friday met Keith Krach, U.S. undersecretary of state for economic affairs, has informed the U.S. Embassy in Sofia of the situation, the head of Sofia health inspectorate said.

The government press office said Borissov was able to carry out his duties and was in constant contact with his ministers as the Balkan country grapples with a spike in new coronavirus infections and daily anti-government protests since July.

Borissov had self-isolated late on Friday after he was informed that a deputy minister who he had been in contact with five days ago had tested positive.

Health authorities lifted Borissov’s quarantine late on Saturday after two negative results from coronavirus tests, but then he tested positive on Sunday.

“After two PCR tests, as of today I am positive with COVID-19,” the 61-year-old said on Facebook. “I have a general malaise. For the moment, on the doctors’ discretion, I remain on home treatment.”

It was not immediately clear if he was already receiving a specific treatment. He said he had postponed all meetings and planned public appearances for the coming days.

In a response to wishes for a speedy recovery from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Twitter, Borissov wrote back: “Thank you. I hope to recover soon. And in the meantime I will strictly follow the orders of the health authorities.”

Bulgaria, like many other European Union countries, is seeing a steep rise in new infections. There were 1,043 new cases reported on Sunday in the country of 7 million people, bringing the total to 37,562, including 1,084 deaths.

In downtown Sofia, several hundred protesters who rallied for 109th day in a row, also wished three-times premier Borissov well but still demanded his resignation, accusing him of allowing corrupt practices that support oligarchs and businesses close to his center-right GERB party.

“With or without masks, we have to cure this epidemic of corruption,” Velislav Minekov, one of the informal leaders of the protests, told the peaceful rally.

Borissov has denied any wrongdoing and has said people can have their say at the scheduled election in March.

Health Minister Kostadin Angelov, Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova and Transport Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said they were self-isolating after being in contact with Borissov on Friday.

President Rumen Radev, who attended a forum in Estonia on Oct. 19 along with Polish President Andrzej Duda, tested negative on Sunday, he said on Facebook. Duda tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Catherine Evans and Alison Williams)

Source: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health...alaise-after-testing-positive-for-coronavirus.

 

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https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health...alaise-after-testing-positive-for-coronavirus

Colombia surpassed 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases Sunday, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center .

The Latin American country recorded 8,769 new infections from Saturday to Sunday, bringing the total to 1,007,711 and the number of deaths to 30,000.

Colombia becomes the eighth country to hit the 1 million milestone, after the U.S., India, Brazil, Russia, France, Argentina and Spain. France and Spain surpassed the mark Friday.

The United States set a daily record Friday with at least 83,757 infections reported, breaking a single-day record set July 16 by more than 6,000 cases.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, tested positive for COVID-19 and began quarantine Saturday, a spokesman said, adding that Pence and his wife tested negative and were in good health.

With surges in northern Rocky Mountain states and the upper Midwest, the U.S. continued to lead the world Sunday in coronavirus infections, with more than 8.5 million, and in COVID-19 deaths, with more than 224,000, according to Johns Hopkins.

A new estimate by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has said the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 could surpass a half-million by February unless nearly all Americans wear face masks.

It said the number of possible deaths could drop by 130,000 if 95% of Americans would wear face coverings.

The U.S. surge is similar to widespread spikes in Europe, where Paris, Rome and other large cities are imposing increasingly stringent measures to contain the spread of the virus.

Europe

The European Union's disease control agency, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, has joined the World Health Organization to sound the alarm over a new surge of the COVID-19 virus across the continent, as the WHO warned that the infection is rising exponentially.

ECDC Director Andrea Ammon said Europe is facing a major threat to public health and a "highly concerning epidemiological situation."

All EU countries except Cyprus, Estonia, Finland and Greece fell into a "serious concern" category, as did Britain, the agency said.

Elsewhere in Europe, Poland has seen a sharp increase in infections, with 13,628 new cases reported Saturday. Polish President Andrzej Duda is among those who have tested positive, as the country imposed more lockdown measures including a two-week closure of bars and restaurants and students beyond third grade moving to distance learning.

As coronavirus infections in Belgium continue to reach record highs, authorities ordered the closure of the country’s cultural facilities on Saturday and announced a longer curfew beginning Monday. Brussels, home to the European Union and NATO, is among the country’s hardest-hit regions. Belgium has one of the world’s highest per capita fatality rates, with more than 10,600 total deaths.

Germany's death toll passed 10,000, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Saturday, as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country increased by 14,714 to 418,005.

Russia reported 16,521 new cases of infection with the coronavirus on Saturday after hitting a record high of over 17,300 on Friday.

In Greece, authorities imposed a nightly curfew Saturday in the Athens area and in other regions of the country with high infection rates and made it mandatory to wear face masks indoors and outdoors. The country has so far avoided the worst of the virus, reporting a relatively low 29,000 total cases and 559 deaths.

Researchers around the world are racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19, which has killed more than 1.1 million globally and sickened more than 42 million. 

Source: https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/colombia-surpasses-1-million-coronavirus-cases.

 

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Brazil reports 231 coronavirus deaths on Sunday

Brazil has registered 231 additional coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 13,493 new cases, the nation's health ministry said on Sunday. The South American country has now registered 157,134 total coronavirus deaths and 5,394,128 total confirmed cases.

Brazil's coronavirus death toll is second only to the United States, though new daily deaths and cases are down significantly from the worst period in May, June and July.

Source: https://www.devdiscourse.com/articl...-start-human-trials-of-covid-vaccine-on-nov-1.

 

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Covid: Belgian doctors with coronavirus asked to keep working

Doctors in the Belgian city of Liège have been asked to keep working even if they have coronavirus amid a surge in cases and hospital admissions.

About a quarter of medical staff there are reportedly off sick with Covid-19.

Now 10 hospitals have requested that staff who have tested positive but do not have symptoms keep working.

The head of the Belgian Association of Medical Unions told the BBC they had no choice if they were to prevent the hospital system collapsing within days.

Dr Philippe Devos acknowledged that there was an obvious risk of transferring the virus to patients.

One in three people tested are coming back positive with the virus in the eastern Belgian city. Hospitals are transferring patients elsewhere and cancelling non-urgent surgeries, days after Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke warned the country was close to a "tsunami" of infections where authorities "no longer control what is happening".

The decision comes as governments across Europe try to tackle fresh waves of coronavirus infections.

At a news conference on Monday, World Health Organization (WHO) officials suggested travel restrictions, stay at home orders or even national lockdowns may be needed across the continent to tackle the fresh outbreaks.

"Right now we are well behind this virus in Europe, so getting ahead of it is going to take some serious acceleration in what we do," warned WHO emergencies head Dr Mike Ryan.

Italy - hit hard by the virus in March - has closed gyms, theatres and swimming pools in a bid to bring down case numbers. The country reported more than 21,200 new infections on Sunday.

The Italian government has warned that the rise in cases was putting a huge strain on health services, but Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that a full lockdown would be catastrophic for the economy.

What measures has Italy introduced?
Restaurants, bars and cafes must stop table service at 18:00 and offer only take-away until midnight. Contact sports are prohibited but shops and most businesses will remain open.

The new restrictions, which are in force until 24 November, will also see 75% of classes at Italy's high schools and universities conducted online instead of in a classroom.

Regional governments had asked for all classes to be conducted via distance learning, Italian media reported, but the move was opposed by Education Minister Lucia Azzolina.

The government is also urging people not to travel outside their home towns or cities unless absolutely necessary and to avoid using public transport if possible.

"We think that we will suffer a bit this month but by gritting our teeth with these restrictions, we'll be able to breathe again in December," Mr Conte told a news conference on Sunday.

The latest restrictions have triggered demonstrations in cities including Naples, Turin and Rome.

What's happening elsewhere in Europe?
Gyms and pools have also closed in the Belgian capital Brussels, and shops must shut at 20:00. Masks are now compulsory in public spaces. These rules will remain in force until 19 November.

In the UK, people aged 16 to 25 are more than twice as likely as older workers to have lost their job during the pandemic, BBC Panorama has found. Research seen by the programme also suggests the education gap between privileged and disadvantaged young people has widened further.

In France, health experts have warned that the number of new Covid-19 cases per day could be about 100,000 - twice the official figure.

Prof Jean-Francois Delfraissy, the head of France's scientific council which advises the government on the pandemic, said the estimated figure included undiagnosed and asymptomatic cases.

He told RTL radio he was surprised by the "brutality" of the second wave which he expected to be much worse than the first, adding: "Many of our fellow citizens have not yet realised what awaits us."

France has already imposed night-time curfews on major cities, including Paris. The country has recorded more than 1.1 million cases in total and 34,780 deaths.

The Czech Republic has also introduced a night-time curfew, which came into effect on Tuesday at midnight for a week. Nobody will be allowed to leave the house between 21:00 and 04:59 each night except to travel to and from work, for medical reasons or a few other exceptions. All shops will be shut on Sundays and will shut at 20:00 every other evening.

And Spain has declared a national state of emergency and imposed a night-time curfew amid a new spike in Covid-19 infections.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the curfew, which came into force on Sunday night, would be in place between the hours of 23:00 and 06:00.

Under the measures, local authorities can also ban travel between regions. Spain has seen more than one million cases and 34,750 deaths.

Russia has registered a record 17,347 new daily coronavirus cases, officials said on Monday. Total reported cases have surpassed 1.5 million - but the mayor of the worst-hit city, Moscow, said that while "there is still growth... it is slower".

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54688846.

 

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Stock markets slide as Covid-19 cases rise

US stock markets suffered their sharpest drop in weeks as concerns about the economic impact of surging coronavirus cases sent shares tumbling.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 2.3%, after dropping more than 3% earlier in the day. The S&P 500 fell 1.8% and the Nasdaq 1.6%.

Stocks in Europe, where a rise in virus cases has prompted new restrictions, also declined.

Shares in travel and energy firms took some of the heaviest losses.

In the United States, cruise lines Royal Caribbean Group, Carnival and Norwegian all dropped more than 8%, while in the UK, British Airways owner IAG closed 7.6% lower.

Travel firms have been some of the most sensitive to warnings about the virus, which experts worry will intensify as winter approaches.

On Monday, Michael Ryan, an emergencies expert for the World Health Organization, said that Europe would need "much more comprehensive" measures to get the virus under control.

"Right now we're well behind this virus in Europe, so getting ahead of it is going to take some serious acceleration in what we do," he said.

On Monday, France's CAC 40 ended 1.9% lower, while Germany's Dax index dropped 3.7%. In the UK, the FTSE 100 fell nearly 1.2%.

State of the virus
US President Donald Trump has vowed to avoid widespread restrictions on activity, similar to the lockdown restrictions seen this spring, saying such limits are not worth the economic cost.

But such decisions are typically handled by local leaders in America, some of whom, such as the mayors of El Paso, Texas and Newark, New Jersey, tightened rules on Monday.

Over the last week, the number of new virus cases reported daily in the US has repeatedly passed 80,000, sending the seven day average to a new high of nearly 69,000 - roughly double what it was in September.

The number of hospitalisations has jumped 40% in the past month and death rates are also rising, though more slowly.

On a per capita basis, the number of new cases in the US over the past seven days remains lower than some other countries, including the UK, Spain and France, which have announced new restrictions recently.

But analysts say the economy is unlikely to mend until concerns about Covid-19 are resolved.

Amid those strains, investors are also worried about the impasse in Washington over the need to fund additional coronavirus economic relief.

On Monday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has been trying to broker a deal for the White House, said the two sides remained far apart. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, who leads Democrats in the House of Representatives made similar comments.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54694956.

 

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Coronavirus cases in the Netherlands rise by more than 10,300 in 24 hours-data
Healthcare
Reuters Staff
AMSTERDAM, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The number of coronavirus infections in the Netherlands jumped by more than 10,300 in 24 hours, hitting a new record, data released by the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) on Monday showed.

The RIVM said the number of confirmed new cases of COVID-19 reached a new high of 10,343, while the total number of infections in the country passed 300,000 during the pandemic. (Reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Toby Sterling; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/instant-article/idUSS8N2C40G6.

 

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Russia registers biggest daily growth in COVID-19 cases

17,347 people test positive for novel coronavirus in single day

Moskova
MOSCOW

Russia registered on Monday the biggest daily growth in COVID-19 infections since the beginning of the pandemic.

Over the past day, 17,347 people tested positive for COVID-19, the highest single-day growth since the first cases were reported in Russia in February, the country's emergency task force said.

Over 1.53 million people have already been exposed to the disease in Russia with active cases standing at 358,859.

Recoveries grew by 7,574 since yesterday, taking the total number of successfully cured people to 1.14 million, while fatalities rose by 219 to reach 26,269.

Authorities say it can take about half a year to stabilize the situation, and several years to overcome the harm it has caused.

Despite a rising number of cases, authorities ruled out introduction of a nationwide lockdown similar to the one Russia was on from the end of March till mid-May.

The capital Moscow, however, asked businesses that at least a third of their staff must work remotely.

In some regions educational institutions, including schools and universities, have also reverted to remote learning.

Over 43 million people have contracted the novel coronavirus globally, while the fatalities exceeded 1.15 million, and more than 28.97 million recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University’s running tally.

The US, India, and Brazil are currently the worst-hit countries.

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/latest-on-...iggest-daily-growth-in-covid-19-cases/2019356.

 

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'Corpses everywhere': New video reveals pile of dead bodies in Russian hospital amid coronavirus

A video circulating on social media on Monday showing dozens of victims packed into a morgue in a hospital in Russia, reveals the lack of resources, violations of sanitary codes and inhumane treatment of patients battling the coronavirus.

A Russian health care worker recorded the scene from the corridor and dissection room of Novokuznetsk hospital in Siberia, where dozens of corpses lay on the floors – providing an inside look into Russian-state medical facilities.

"Corpses everywhere, corpses, corpses," the man commented as he walked through the hospital's corridor, disinfection station and shower room, revealing the filthy conditions.

The footage captured dozens of bodies in black bags littering the floor with at least one of the bodies simply covered with a blanket with the man's legs visible.

"We have a corridor, and it is full," the man said referring to the bodies of dozens of COVID-19 patients. "Corpses everywhere," he continued. "You can even stumble and fall. We literally walk over the heads of the dead."

The local authorities in the Kemerovo region verified the authenticity of the video released Monday, while the head of the local department of the ministry, Oleg Evsa, was fired shortly after the video went viral.

"Given the increase in the number of cases over the past three weeks, there is a rise in the number of deaths," the department said in a statement. "Due to a delay in the release of the bodies, about 50 bodies of the deceased were stored here," it added.

Russia's daily tally of new COVID-19 cases soared to a record high of 17,347 on Monday as the Kremlin warned the pandemic was beginning to inflict areas outside the capital Moscow on a greater scale.

Authorities say Russia has enough hospital beds and medication to tackle the second wave of COVID-19 but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said "extremely energetic" efforts from both federal and regional governments were now needed to cope with rising case numbers.

"The situation is quite serious," Peskov told reporters on a conference call. "The epidemic has stricken the regions, it has gone east of Moscow."

Russian media reports suggest some regions are struggling to withstand the pressure put on their health system.

In one indication of the crisis, Russia's health watchdog said it would launch an investigation following reports from local media outlet 161.ru in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don that several COVID-19 patients had died in the hospital as their oxygen supply ran out. A city official denied the report.

Moscow, a city of nearly 13 million, reported 5,224 new infections on Monday.

Authorities in the capital have opened temporary hospitals, ordered businesses to have at least 30% of staff working remotely and directed the city's sprawling metro system to turn away commuters with high body temperatures.

Russia in August became the first country to grant regulatory approval for a vaccine against COVID-19, doing so after less than two months of human testing, with large-scale trials underway. Regulators approved a second vaccine earlier this month.

In a televised meeting on Monday, parliament Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin told President Vladimir Putin that one in every five lawmakers in the 450-seat legislature currently has or has had COVID-19. He said that 38 lawmakers were currently hospitalized, one of whom was in intensive care.

With 1,531,224 infections, the massive country home to 145 million people has recorded the world's fourth-largest COVID-19 caseload – after the United States, India and Brazil.

Authorities said 219 people had died from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 26,269.

Source: https://www.dailysabah.com/world/eu...d-bodies-in-russian-hospital-amid-coronavirus.

 

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Anger over Italy virus rules as curfews enforced around Europe

ROME, ITALY -- Anger was growing in Italy Monday over harsh new coronavirus restrictions brought in to "save Christmas," while other hard-hit countries enforced curfews in a bid to avoid fresh national lockdowns.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's decision to close restaurants and bars from 6:00 pm and shut all theatres, cinemas and gyms for a month was widely criticised, even as scientists questioned whether it would be enough to stop the virus.

"These restrictions will be the end of us," said Giuseppe Tonon, 70, the owner of a restaurant in Oderzo, a small village in northeastern Italy.

"We're not in a city centre, we're in the provinces. Our customers come in the evening or during the weekend," he told AFP after a photograph of him, slumped in despair at the news, went viral on social media.

Countries across Europe are seeing dramatic spikes in cases, and governments are taking drastic action.

Spain imposed a new national state of emergency and overnight curfews, while France set a daily record of more than 50,000 cases and extended an overnight curfew to cover areas home to around 46 million people.

COVID-19 has now claimed the lives of 1.1 million people and infected more than 43 million globally.

The United States -- still the worst-hit country -- smashed its own record for new daily cases this weekend, pushing the issue up the agenda in the nation's presidential election campaign.

Challenger Joe Biden accused President Donald Trump's administration of waving "the white flag of defeat" after a senior official conceded the government was not going to control the pandemic.

But the battle was being won elsewhere: Australia's second biggest city Melbourne registered no new cases on Monday, and was set to exit lockdown this week after nearly four months of onerous restrictions.

'THE END OF US'
Conte told Italy he hoped the unpopular new restrictions, which deal a severe blow to sectors already on their knees after a national lockdown this spring, "will allow us to be more relaxed by Christmas", though he warned "hugging and partying" would still be out of the question.

"Stop! We've brought in a decree to save you!" a cartoon Conte told a suicidal Father Christmas on the Corriere della Sera's front-page.

Restaurant and bar owners were not laughing. The early closing times mean Italy's bustling aperitivo hour is gone, as are dinners out.

Famed Italian conductor Riccardo Muti appealed publicly to the prime minister, saying closing down the arts would also "harm health".

"Defining... theatre and music as 'superfluous', as some elements of the government have, is ignorant, uncultured and insensitive," he said.

Italy, the first European country to be hit hard by the pandemic, on Sunday registered 21,273 new cases.

Regional heads had warned a new decree with strict measures would fuel social tensions, after street clashes in Naples and Rome last week.

The World Health Organization's Italian government adviser Walter Ricciardi said it also may "not be enough" to stop the virus spreading.

'VERY DIFFICULT YEAR'
Italy was the epicentre of the outbreak earlier in the year, but caseloads are now much higher in Spain and France -- both countries crossing the milestone of one million confirmed infections.

Spain's state of emergency will give regions the power to limit movement in and out of their territories and extend curfews.


Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he wanted "at any price" to avoid a second national lockdown, adding: "The more we stay home the more protected we and others will be."

Across the other side of the world, Melbourne's five million residents finally got the news they had been waiting for, with lockdown restrictions being lifted this week.

The city's residents have been under far tighter restrictions than anywhere else in the country, but with new cases falling dramatically, the state's politicians had been under pressure to lift the measures.

"This has been a very difficult year. And Victorians have given a lot and I'm proud of every single one of them," said Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews.

Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/anger-...s-as-curfews-enforced-around-europe-1.5160792.

 

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Senate votes in favour of coronavirus law, clearing way for face masks

The senate has voted in favour of new legislation designed to anchor the coronavirus measures in law, and which will clear the way for the introduction of compulsory face masks. Senator vote 48 to 24 in favour of the new law, with far right parties, the SP and pro-animal PvdD voting against. The law, which replaces the emergency powers currently used to implement social distancing and other requirements, was first mooted in the spring and will become law in December, if not before. Ministers were earlier forced to make concessions to get the legislation through the lower house of parliament. Among the amendments made to the first draft of the legislation, which was heavily criticised inside and outside parliament, was a decision to cut the lifespan of the law to three months. Ministers also agreed to cut the fine for breaking the coronavirus social distancing and other rules to €95, which means people who do infringe the law will no longer face a criminal record. The maximum prison term for breaking the rules on group gatherings and keeping 1.5 metres was also cut from one month to two weeks. Masks Although the Dutch partial lockdown includes measures such as and self-isolation in the case of illness or travel, the use of masks and quarantine in the Netherlands cannot currently be made compulsory. Instead the government has opted for ‘urgent advice’ to wear face masks inside public buildings, shops and museums. However, the new law will make it possible to enforce the wearing of face masks, something which ministers said they will do as soon as possible.

Source: https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/...-coronavirus-law-clearing-way-for-face-masks/.

 

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Norway Warns Against All International Travel Until 2021

Official advice from Norwegian authorities recommends residents of Norway do not take unnecessary international trips until mid-January.

Amid a rapidly rising infection rate, Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises against all international travel that is not strictly necessary until 15 January, 2021.

Following several months of countries alternating between “red” and “yellow” status regarding Norway’s quarantine, virtually all of Europe is now red. Just Greenland and a handful of regions in Finland remain yellow and quarantine-free.

Problems for foreign residents of Norway
There are hundreds of thousands of foreign-born residents of Norway. Many have been unable to travel back to their home countries for many months now due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The latest travel guidance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs means many people face a difficult choice about whether to travel to see their families over the Christmas holiday period.

While the ministry’s guidance is absolutely not a travel ban, it could see flights cancelled due to a drop in demand, and cause issues with travel insurance.

It’s also important to factor in the likely requirement to serve a quarantine period upon your return to Norway.

A crackdown in Norway
Earlier this week, prime minister Erna Solberg announced new measures valid until December. Solberg said she hoped this crackdown would allow everyone to enjoy a more “normal” Christmas holiday period with family and friends.

The new measures include a recommendation to limit socialising and to have no more than 5 guests in your home at any one time. Stricter limits on private and public events are also being introduced.

Issues with travel insurance
Anyone planning to book a trip at the moment should check their travel insurance thoroughly, as they may not be covered for cancelled flights and other issues having knowingly travelled against the recommendation of the government. This applies to trips booked well into next year.

According to NRK, if you book and pay for a trip now while the destination country is considered “red” (as almost all countries are right now) and it remains red on departure, you will not be covered for cancellation through travel insurance.

If you have booked while it is red, the cancellation insurance does not apply if the country should turn yellow or green at the time of travel. This means that you cannot cancel the trip should you, for example, have an accident and injure yourself.

However, travel insurance does covers cancellation if the destination turns red when there are 14 days or less until departure, but only if the trip was booked at a time when the destination was green or yellow.

Source: https://www.lifeinnorway.net/norway-warns-against-all-international-travel-until-2021/.

 

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Brazil suffers 549 new COVID-19 deaths, 29,787 new cases

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil has recorded 549 new COVID-19 deaths and 29,787 new cases of coronavirus, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

Brazil now has more than 5.4 million cases of the virus, with nearly 158,000 deaths.

Source: https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/brazil-suffers-549-new-covid-19-deaths-29787-new-cases.

 

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Argentina Relaxes COVID-19 Restrictions

Authorities in Buenos Aires have loosened coronavirus restrictions, allowing people inside businesses, including restaurants, bars and gyms for the first time in seven months.

Under the new guidelines, businesses are allowed up to 25 percent of their capacity, with assurances they provide proper ventilation.

The Associated Press reports the easing of restrictions comes as new COVID-19 cases have trended downward in recent months in Argentina's capital.

Authorities say coronavirus cases have not dropped in other areas of the country and people in Buenos Aires are urged to remain vigilant in following safety protocols.

Argentina has confirmed more than 1,100,000 coronavirus cases and at least 29,301 deaths.

Source: https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/argentina-relaxes-covid-19-restrictions.

 

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Peru: 26 bln USD allocated to beat coronavirus crisis

(MENAFN)


According to President Martin Vizcarra on Monday, an amount of around USD26 billion was allocated by Peru's regime within an economic revival strategy to beat the influence of coronavirus.

The President stated that, the capability to take an action concerning the health crisis goes together with the revival strategy, as being one of the most ambitious in the history of Peru.

Vizcarra stated in a military ceremony in Peru's capital Lima that, "we have allocated great resources to strengthen our hospital response capacity."

Financial help for a number of 2.8 million poor households and 800,000 informal workers is incorporated in the strategy.

Source: https://menafn.com/1101022730/Peru-26-bln-USD-allocated-to-beat-coronavirus-crisis&source=30.

 

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Foreign Ministry: Fifteen Ukrainians die from COVID-19 abroad

(MENAFN - UkrinForm) The foreign diplomatic missions of Ukraine are aware of 91 COVID-19 cases and 15 confirmed deaths among Ukrainian citizens abroad.

"As of October 23, the foreign diplomatic missions of Ukraine are aware of 91 COVID-19 cases and 15 confirmed deaths among Ukrainian citizens abroad," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine informs.

According to available data, 158 Ukrainian citizens abroad have recovered from COVID-19.

As of October 28, Ukraine has reported 363,075 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 7,474 cases recorded over the past day.

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MENAFN2810202001930000ID1101033372

Source: https://menafn.com/1101033372/Foreign-Ministry-Fifteen-Ukrainians-die-from-COVID-19-abroad.

 

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COVID-19 claims 100 more lives in Indonesia

(MENAFN) Achmad Yurianto, an Indonesia health ministry official, said during a press conference on Wednesday that 4,029 more patients have been diagnosed with coronavirus across the country, increasing the total number of COVID-19 infections across Indonesia to 400,483 as 100 additional patients have died due to the disease, increasing the death toll to 13,612.

The official added that 3,545 more patients have recovered from the disease and were discharged from hospitals, raising the total number of coronavirus recoveries to 325,793.

The virus has spread to all of the 34 provinces across Indonesia; however, the recent cases were recorded in five provinces including Jakarta detecting the highest number of infections with 102,678 cases and 2,188 deaths, followed by East Java with 51,506 cases and 3,704 deaths, and West Java 34,745 cases with 708 deaths.

Head of Indonesia's national COVID-19 task force Doni Monardo on Tuesday acknowledged that the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 in the country still hovered above the global average.



MENAFN2810202000450000ID1101032224

Source: https://menafn.com/1101032224/COVID-19-claims-100-more-lives-in-Indonesia&source=30.

 

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Coronavirus: Macron declares second national lockdown in France

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a second national lockdown until at least the end of November.

Mr Macron said that under the new measures, starting on Friday, people would only be allowed to leave home for essential work or medical reasons.

Non-essential businesses, such as restaurants and bars, will close, but schools and factories will remain open.

Covid daily deaths in France are at the highest level since April. On Tuesday, 33,000 new cases were confirmed.

Mr Macron said the country risked being "overwhelmed by a second wave that no doubt will be harder than the first".

Meanwhile, Germany will impose an emergency lockdown that is less severe but includes the closure of restaurants, gyms and theatres.

Infections are rising sharply across Europe, including the UK which on Wednesday announced 310 new deaths and 24,701 new officially-recorded cases.

In England, a new study estimates almost 100,000 people are actually catching the virus every day, with researchers warning that "something has to change".

Night curfews are in force in several countries, including for 46 million people in France.

News of the new restrictions being introduced in Europe's biggest economies led to sharp falls in the financial markets on Wednesday. The UK's FTSE 100 ended almost 2.6% lower, and Germany's Dax dropped 4.2%. Major US indexes also sank 3.4% or more.

"We are deep in the second wave," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. "I think that this year's Christmas will be a different Christmas."

Why is France acting now?
In a televised address on Wednesday, Mr Macron said that France must now "brutally apply the brakes" to avoid being "submerged by the acceleration of the epidemic".

"The virus is circulating at a speed that not even the most pessimistic forecasts had anticipated," he said, adding that half of all intensive care beds at French hospitals were being occupied by Covid patients.

The president said that under the new rules, people would need to fill in a form to justify leaving their homes, as was required in the initial lockdown in March. Social gatherings are banned.

"Like in the spring, you will be able to leave your house only to work, for a medical appointment, to provide assistance to a relative, to shop for essential goods or to go for a walk near your house," Mr Macron said.

But he made clear that public services and factories would remain open, adding that the economy "must not stop or collapse".

Mr Macron added that visits to care homes - which were banned during the two-month lockdown declared in March - would be permitted under the latest measures.

The curbs will apply until 1 December and will be reassessed every two weeks. The president said he retained "hope that families will be able to be reunited for Christmas".

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54716993.

 

[sweep_shot]

Covid-19: Record traffic out of Paris as second French lockdown begins

Traffic around Paris hit record levels just hours before a new national lockdown came into force across France.

Jams stretched to a cumulative 430 miles (700 km) in the Ile-de-France region early on Thursday evening, local media reported.

Lockdown measures came into force at midnight on Friday (23:00 GMT) to tackle spiralling Covid infections.

People have been ordered to stay at home except for essential work or medical reasons.

President Emmanuel Macron said the country risked being "overwhelmed by a second wave that no doubt will be harder than the first".

Daily Covid-19 deaths in France are at the highest level since April. On Thursday, authorities reported 47,637 new cases and 250 new deaths.

French media report that many Parisians have left the city to spend lockdown in the countryside.

Anna, 24, told Le Figaro newspaper that she had left her family's Paris apartment for their second home in Bernay in northern France. She said spending the first lockdown in Paris was "psychologically hard" - but in Bernay, "the air is cleaner, we breathe, we feel free".

A similar exodus happened in March, when the first lockdown came into force. At the time some residents of French regions were hostile to Parisians who had fled the capital.

"We're asking people to stay at home and Parisians to stay in Paris. You can well understand that if 4,000 people from Paris invade and one-third of them are infected without knowing, obviously it risks spreading rapidly," wrote one commentator in the local Sud Ouest (South-West) newspaper.

During the first Covid wave, however, certain regions of France - Paris and the north-east in particular - were being badly hit when the lockdown was imposed, while other areas had comparatively few cases.

This time, officials have said the virus is spreading fast all over the country.

Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Brussels had set aside €220m (£200m) in order to transfer Covid patients from hard-hit member states to other nations with spare hospital beds.

She also called for European Union countries to pool their coronavirus data, and urged them not to close their borders to each other.

But she said that "we don't encourage travel now", and that people in Europe should only be embarking on trips if they were essential.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54742795.

 

[sweep_shot]

Germany posts record 16,774 new coronavirus cases ahead of November 'lockdown light'

The number of active cases across the country has grown to be more than ~120,000 as of yesterday, having more than doubled over the past two weeks. Another 89 deaths were reported today, bringing the total tally to 10,272 persons.

Despite Merkel's announcement of 'lockdown light' (), cases are still expected to be on the rise in the coming weeks before the measures truly kick into effect.

As for the German economy, many services will be impacted but as schools stay open and the manufacturing sector keeps operating, that may be able to stem some of the bleeding alongside some fiscal help provided by the government in the meantime.

European equities took things on the chin yesterday, with the DAX slumping by over 4% in a drop to its lowest level since late May. There might be room for some retracement as we wrap up the week, but I'm skeptical of a dead cat bounce ahead of the election.

Source: https://www.forexlive.com/news/!/ge...virus-cases-ahead-of-monday-lockdown-20201029.

 

[sweep_shot]

Coronavirus: Slovakia holds national test but president calls for delay

Slovakia is to start testing everyone over the age of 10 for Covid-19 on Saturday, but the president has said she thinks the idea is "unfeasible".

The operation to test four million people is to last over two weekends.

Infections have soared in Slovakia and officials argue the only alternative would be a total lockdown.

President Zuzana Caputova called for the plan to be delayed after armed forces chiefs said there were not enough trained health workers to do it.

So far only 70% of the 20,000 staff needed to administer the nasal swab tests have been recruited, according to the defence minister.

Slovakia recorded 3,363 new infections on Thursday, bringing the total since March to 55,091. A total of 212 have died.

'There's no alternative'
From dawn on Saturday, soldiers and medics were due to fan out across the country, from the vast Petrzalka housing estates of Bratislava, to tiny hamlets in the shadows of the Tatra Mountains, to the mostly Hungarian-speaking towns dotted along the Danube plain.

The plan is to test almost four-fifths of the population, using rapid antigen testing that has an estimated 30% false negative rate. Results will be delivered in a sealed envelope within 15 minutes.

"It's the army's biggest logistical operation since the country became independent," said Defence Minister Jaro Nad.

"In terms of the pandemic we're in a worse situation than the Czech Republic, but we're two or three weeks behind," he told me. He said he had been put in charge of the national operation after a pilot project in four counties in northern Slovakia had been judged a success.

The neighbouring Czech Republic, with twice the population, recorded 13,051 new infections on Thursday, bringing its total to 310,068. Some 2,862 people have died, and the mortality rate in the past two weeks is the highest in the EU.

Slovakia's numbers are far lower but government modelling predicts a catastrophic overload of hospitals by mid-November if nothing is done.

"There's no alternative - it's either mass testing or harsh lockdown," Mr Nad told the BBC.

Why antigen tests?
The standard diagnostic tool for Covid is PCR tests (polymerase chain reaction), which detect the presence of the virus's RNA - its genetic material. PCR tests are fairly sensitive, offering perhaps 90% accuracy, but they are slower and more expensive.

Antigen tests detect the presence of coronavirus proteins. While they are quicker, they are also less accurate, producing high false negatives - around 30%, depending on the type of test used.

However, the defence minister said that in the current situation they were by far the best option.

"It's actually a fantastic number - if you take into account that you're identifying 70% of sick or infected people across the country," said Mr Nad.

"You then send them home so they don't come into contact with other people and spread the infection further."

"There's no better alternative if you want to find thousands and thousands of people who are currently infected but don't know it."

Each test result, handed out in a sealed envelope within 30 minutes, will contain a leaflet explaining what to do next if positive - go home, self-isolate and call your doctor.

"Most of them will be healthy after 10 days. Some of them will probably end up in hospital. But they'd end up in hospital anyway," Mr Nad told the BBC.

However, the operation is now the source of intense criticism at the highest levels.

While testing is voluntary, those who refuse must self-isolate for 10 days. Breaking that quarantine will be punished with a hefty fine.

A negative test result, however, will serve as a "free pass" from a curfew due to be introduced from Monday.

'Idea born out of despair'
President Caputova called the curfew measures "divisive", saying that such categorisation of citizens was "the last thing we need at the moment".

And the sheer scale of the operation has aroused some scepticism.

"Two days before they're due to start and they don't have enough people for the testing. It looks impossible," said Matus Kostolny, editor-in-chief of the daily Dennik N.

Others were more understanding.

"Yes, it's an idea born out of despair. But no-one in Europe seems to have a solution of how to flatten the curve of new infections during this second wave," said Pavol Strba, foreign news editor at online daily Aktuality.sk.

If it works, other countries might soon follow suit.

The defence minister told the BBC that the Slovak government had received a call from an adviser to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, asking them to share information both from the pilot project and the two weekends.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54747022.

 

[sweep_shot]

Taiwan Records Zero Coronavirus Cases for 200 Consecutive Days

(MENAFN - Khaama Press) TAIPEI, Taiwan – While the world struggles to contain new waves of the coronavirus pandemic, including the Unites States topping the list for its confirmed cases, Taiwan just marked its 200th consecutive days without a single locally transmitted case of the virus.

The island of 23 million people last reported a locally transmitted case on April 12. As of Thursday, it had confirmed 553 cases — only 55 of which were local transmissions. Seven deaths have been recorded.

Taiwan has never had to enact strict lockdowns. Nor did it resort to drastic restrictions on civil freedoms, according to reports, like in mainland China.

Instead, Taiwanese authorities began screening passengers on direct flights from Wuhan, where the virus was first identified on December 31, 2019.

Taiwan confirmed its first reported case of the novel coronavirus on January 21 and then banned Wuhan residents from traveling to the island. All passengers arriving from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao were required to undergo screening, CNN reported.

Former Taiwanese Vice President Chen Chien-jen, who is an epidemiologist by training, said lockdowns are not ideal. Chen also said that the type of mass-testing schemes undertaken in mainland China, where millions of people are screened when a handful of cases are detected, are also unnecessary, according to report.

'Very careful contact tracing, and very stringent quarantines of close contacts are the best way to contain Covid-19,' he said.

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Source: https://menafn.com/1101043400/Taiwan-Records-Zero-Coronavirus-Cases-for-200-Consecutive-Days.

 

[sweep_shot]

Baku accounts for largest number of COVID-19 cases in Azerbaijan

(MENAFN - AzerNews) By Ayya Lmahamad

Baku accounts for 55.2 percent of all coronavirus infection cases in Azerbaijan, the official website koronavirusinfo has reported.

Infection cases amounted to 14.5 percent in Absheron, 10.6 percent in Aran, 6.7 percent in Ganja-Gazakh, 4 percent in Lankaran, 2.9 percent in Sheki-Zagatala, 2.5 percent in Guba-Khachmaz, , 1.6 percent in Mountain Shirvan, and 1 percent in Upper Karabakh.

Some 0.08 percent of infection cases have been detected in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

The number of coronavirus infection among those coming from abroad is 0.9 percent.

Additionally, in Baku, the largest infection rate is registered in Binagadi district - 14.6 percent, followed by Khatai - 12.7 percent, Yasamal - 11.6 percent, Sabunchu- 11.5 percent, Nasimi 8.6 percent, Narimanov 8 percent, Surakhani - 8 percent, Nizami - 7.2 percent, Garadagh 6.7 percent, , Khazar 5.9 percent, Sabail - 4.8 percent and Pirallakhi - 0.3 percent.

As of October 29, Azerbaijan, the nation of ten million has registered 53,152 COVID-19 cases and 708 coronavirus-related deaths. Over 42,516 people have recovered from the disease.

Source: https://menafn.com/1101043557/Baku-...ber-of-COVID-19-cases-in-Azerbaijan&source=30.

 

[sweep_shot]

Swiss urge caution as COVID cases again top 9,000

ZURICH/GENEVA (Reuters) - Coronavirus infections rose by 9,207 and hospitalisations by 279, data here from Swiss health authorities showed on Friday, as the country's health care and contract tracing systems struggled to manage a second wave of COVID-19 cases.

Switzerland has one of the highest infection rates in Europe, prompting Berne to introduce new nation-wide measures aimed at slowing transmission. But critics say measures do not go far enough, and have called for a lockdown, with infectious disease expert Jacques Fellay on Thursday urging Swiss citizens to cut their contacts in half.

Officials on Friday said the number of new cases was likely an underestimate given the high positivity rate and signs that the testing system is stretched.

The head of Switzerland’s scientific task force for COVID-19, Martin Ackermann, warned that hospital capacity would be exceeded before the effects of the new measures could be fully felt, given the incubation period of the virus.

"We should expect the capacity of our hospitals to be exceeded," he told journalists, calling the risk "very considerable". icumonitoring.ch

Under Switzerland’s federal system, some cantons have introduced measures more strict than national ones, such as limiting private gatherings to five.

The western canton of Jura also called in army support to relieve hospitals, after sending its first patient to a neighbouring canton for lack of intensive care facilities.

However, Ackermann warned that even mobilising the army on a national level--as occurred in the first wave--would have limited effect.

“You have seen the curve and if it continues, any increase in capacity will be exhausted within a few hours,” he said.

Officials urged discipline, asking families to refrain from trick-or-treating over Halloween.

“The numbers need to come down. It’s our only chance,” said Linda Nartey, cantonal doctor in Berne.

The total confirmed cases in Switzerland and tiny neighbouring principality Liechtenstein increased to 154,251, as the death toll rose by 52 to 2,037.

Source: https://ca.reuters.com/article/us-h...n-as-covid-cases-again-top-9000-idUSKBN27F29X.

 

[sweep_shot]

Bulgaria: Coronavirus cases surpass 50,000

(MENAFN) Official statistics revealed on Saturday, October 31, that the number of reported coronavirus infections in Bulgaria has stood at 51,041 after a record high of 2,891 new cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours.

The health ministry stated that the fatalities have reached to 1,254 after 29 patients passed away in the last 24 hours, while the number of recoveries from coronavirus increased by 182 to 19,877.

It also stated that presently 2,447 coronavirus patients are hospitalized, with 165 in the concentrated care unit.

The ministry stated that 1,059 new infections were reported in the country's capital Sofia, taking the city's count to 16,143.

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Source: https://menafn.com/1101047302/Bulgaria-Coronavirus-cases-surpass-50000&source=30.

 

[sweep_shot]

Austria to go into 'hard' new coronavirus shutdown starting Tuesday

Austria's government announced Saturday a second mass shutdown and a curfew starting next week until the end of November, in an attempt to halt rocketing coronavirus infection numbers.

The curfew, which is part of a package of measures that kick in at 12am on Tuesday morning, will be in place from 8pm and 6am every night until November 30th.

The curfew can only be broken for a limited set of reasons such as care responsibilities or essential work travel.

Kurz explained that the measure would not entirely prevent people from leaving their home.

"People will still be allowed to go to work, to provide help, and to stretch their legs, but it is a ban on visiting other people during these hours," he said, adding that private visits were a main cause of the recent surge in infections.

"In Austria we've seen an exponential increase in cases and in the last few weeks, and an almost explosive increase in the past seven days,” said Kurz in justifying what he described as “hard measures.”

Also affected will be the hospitality, culture and hotel sectors.

"All events will not be possible. This will affect the sports, cultural and leisure sectors. Hotels will have to close with the exception of work travel and we must also close restaurants and cafes, with the exception of delivery and takeaway services," Kurz said.

He admitted that the measures represented "dramatic interventions in our social life".

Unlike the first lockdown in the spring, shops will remain open but the country's famous Christmas markets fall under the category of events and will therefore have to close.

Universities and high schools will be moved on to distance learning but kindergartens and other schools will remain open.

All offices who can move to home working are being urged to do so.

While Austria's population of 8.8 million was largely spared the worst of the first wave of the pandemic, in recent weeks the number of positive test results has surged, far exceeding the levels recorded in the spring.

Friday saw yet another new record of 5,627 infections within 24 hours, while Saturday's figure was barely any lower at 5,439.

At the beginning of October the rate of new infections per day was just over 1,000.

The number of those admitted to hospital after contracting the virus has also been rising, with 64 more admissions recorded on Saturday bringing the total currently receiving hospital treatment to 1,867.

Kurz had previously said he would do his utmost to avoid a second lockdown but said he had been forced to act by the rising numbers.

While Austria had one of the world's best healthcare systems, "if we don't act now we our intensive care capacity will be overwhelmed," he said.

He added he hoped the country could take steps back towards more freedom in December if the new lockdown drove down infection numbers.

For now Austria has not seen widespread popular opposition to anti-coronavirus measures.

He also announced that businesses forced to close would be compensated with 80 percent of their income from last November, money he said he expected to be used to pay employees. He also announced that the Kurzarbeit programme would be extended.

Mr Kurz said that the next few months would be tough for Austria but he repeated his belief that life would return to normal next summer after a vaccine had been brought through trial.

A demonstration by anti-lockdown activists in central Vienna on Saturday drew just 200 people, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

Source: https://www.thelocal.at/20201031/austria-to-go-into-hard-new-lockdown-starting-tuesday.

 

[sweep_shot]

In Peru's Cuzco, pandemic devastates tourism and economy

CUZCO, Peru — Efraín Valles guided world leaders, pop stars and a princess on exclusive tours through the land of the Incas. He now makes ice cream to survive amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Valles, once one of the most sought-after tour guides in Cuzco high in Peru's Andes, is one of the 1.3 million people nationwide in a tourism industry devastated by the novel coronavirus and the measures imposed to fight its spread, including international travel restrictions.

Cuzco, the historic capital of the Inca empire near Machu Picchu lives almost entirely from international tourism and is suffering the worst crisis in its recent history. More than 226,000 people who make crafts or work as waiters, hotel staff and taxi drivers, have been plunged into an economic abyss. Merchants say they have lost more than two-thirds of their income.

"We are starting from scratch in an activity that we never thought we were going to do," said Valles, who together with two of his colleagues have started making artisanal fruit ice creams they sell under the name of "Qosqo Creme."

The last decade was brilliant for Valles. In 2014, he was called the best guide in the world by British tourism magazine Wanderlust and in 2016 the government made him an ambassador for a marketing strategy to draw more international tourists

He gave tours to Princess Beatrice, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, the former president of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim, British singer Ed Sheeran, as well as the grandchildren of U.S. explorer Hiram Bingham, who photographed Machu Picchu in 1911.

But the arrival of the novel coronavirus in March and travel restrictions turned Cuzco, which received more than 1.8 million international visits annually, into a near ghost town. Only Spanish and Quechua can be heard in Cuzco's main square, something unimaginable before the pandemic when it resembled a small Babel with tourists speaking a multitude of languages.

Hotels, travel agencies, jewelry stores, restaurants, cafes, chocolate shops and dollar exchange houses are all closed by the square. Only a few souvenir shops remain open but they go for days without customers.

"I don’t sell anything," said Lourdes Auca, 50, who reopened her shop selling alpaca wool hats in the plaza two weeks ago. She pays $2,100 a month in rent for the shop and before the pandemic, on a good day, she would earn up to $300. Her two sons have dropped out of college because the family ran out of money.

Ruth Rodríguez, owner of the tourism agency Ruthbela Travel Tours, said that thousands of tourists would normally come on June 24 for Inti Raymi, the Incan festival of the sun. But this year the streets were empty.

"The streets seemed to be crying because there was no one," said Rodríguez, 37, who has accumulated $13,000 in debt.

Peru's central government created a $143 million fund as a guarantee for banks to loan money to the tourism sector, but Rodríguez says she was recently denied $5,000 by a bank. She contends the fund only favours large business groups.

Fredy Deza, Cusco’s regional director of tourism, said there are 8,000 tour guides in the region who do not have access to these benefits.

"Artisans are not recognized by banks either," he said.

The government then allocated $4.5 million from the fund to be awarded to guides and artisans who propose new tourist routes or innovative craft projects. At the moment, 129 Cuzco guides and artisans have received grants of $830 for guides and $415 for artisans, according to official data.

The small town of Aguas Calientes, the closest to Machu Picchu, is also a ghost town. More than 60% of its 8,000 inhabitants left as businesses shuttered.

Pilar Pérez, a 34-year-old sweeper, told said that in four years of work, she has never found so little garbage on the streets of Aguas Calientes. "This has never happened," she said.

Lidu Guzmán, 32, owner of the Luna Muna hostel in Aguas Calientes, has no tourists in her five-story building.

"We are at zero," she said. "It will be hard until there is a vaccine."

A recent law designed to protect Machu Picchu's ruins, which sets a limit of 675 tourists per day, will also hurt hotels, owners say. Before, 6,000 tourists arrived on the best days and about 4,000 in the low season.

"It means they will come in the morning and leave in the afternoon," Guzmán said.

Tourism entrepreneurs in Cuzco believe things could normalize in 2022, but expect that in 2021 they will barely reach 30% of what they earned in 2019. For now, they are focused on attracting business travellers, local tourists and if possible some visitors from nearby countries.

"Our first strategy is to keep the service at the lowest possible cost, trying to optimize the relationship between price and quality," said Carlos Milla, president of the Cuzco Chamber of Tourism.

Many hotel staff were laid off at the start of the pandemic in March, but their employers have started calling them again.

Cleydy Auca, who graduated as an administrator but cleans hotel rooms, said she was rehired a week ago at Peru's minimum wage.

In seven months of unemployment, the 25-year-old saw her savings of $1,300 disappear buying food for herself and her parents in a poor neighbourhood on Cuzco's outskirts.

Now, wearing a mask, cap, gloves and using disinfectant, she cleans the rooms of the few guests who arrive at the hotels.

"It’s scary," she said as she arranged the white pillows in a room. "But it is scarier to be out of work."

Valles, the tour guide, sensed the fragility of his job a few weeks after the government announced the quarantine. He had to pay the mortgage on his apartment and the private studies of his three children.

So he started selling avocados dressed in a Superman costume. As others began to sell the same product, he switched to cheese, honey and eggs. Then in June, he joined two tour guide friends in making artisanal ice cream.

He sometimes thinks of his old profession hit by the pandemic.

"You despair," he said. "You question yourself and you wonder why you didn't study another career."

Source: https://www.prpeak.com/in-peru-s-cuzco-pandemic-devastates-tourism-and-economy-1.24231009.

 

[sweep_shot]

Azerbaijan confirms 547 more COVID-19 recoveries

(MENAFN - AzerNews) By Trend

Azerbaijan has detected 1,095 new COVID-19 cases, 547 patients have recovered and 12 patients have died, Trend reports citing the Operational Headquarters under Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers.

Up until now, 55,269 people have been infected with coronavirus in the country, 43,543 of them have recovered, and 730 people have died. Currently, 10,996 people are under treatment in special hospitals.


To reveal the COVID-19 cases, 111,441 tests have been carried out in Azerbaijan over the past day, and a total of 1,352,907 tests have been conducted so far.

Source: https://menafn.com/1101047667/Azerbaijan-confirms-547-more-COVID-19-recoveries&source=27.

 

[sweep_shot]

Argentina registers 9,745 new coronavirus infections

(MENAFN) According to the Ministry of Health, Argentina on Saturday, October 31, registered 211 more death cases from coronavirus, taking the national count to 31,002.

The ministry also registered 9,745 new coronavirus infections, taking the countrywide tally to 1,166,924, counting 973,939 recoveries.

Buenos Aires province, the worst-affected between all provinces in the country, has up to now reported 549,365 cases.

On Thursday, October 29, Health Minister Gines Gonzalez Garcia stated that the situation is enhancing in the country while advising the population to keep sanitary measures.


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Source: https://menafn.com/1101050164/Argentina-registers-9745-new-coronavirus-infections&source=30.

 

[sweep_shot]

New coronavirus cases dip under 10,000, hospital admissions increase slows

The number of newly-registered positive coronavirus tests in the 24 hours to Sunday morning was below 10,000 for the second day running, according to figures from public health institute RIVM. In total, 8,740 new cases were notified to the RIVM, over 1,000 down on Saturday’s total of 9,839. There were strong indications last week that the number of new infections is stabilising, but computer problems made it more difficult to assess the day on day changes. The number of people being treated in hospital rose by 46 overnight to 2,493, of whom 583 are in intensive care wards. But the number of new admissions and transfers to intensive care are both down on previous days – although these figures may be revised after the weekend. Most positive cases – 616 – were again reported in Rotterdam which overtook Amsterdam as the coronavirus capital last week.

Source: https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/...der-10000-hospital-admissions-increase-slows/.

 

[sweep_shot]

Australia records zero local coronavirus cases for first time since June

Australia registered no new local COVID-19 cases on Saturday for the first time since June 9, marking a major milestone in the country's battle against the deadly virus.

The apparent turning point comes just months after Victoria declared a "state of disaster" to stem an outbreak that saw as many as 725 people in a single day test positive for the virus in the southeastern state.

"The 1st national zero community transmission day since June 9," Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Twitter on Sunday.

"Thank you to all of our amazing health & public health workers & above all else the Australian people."

Meanwhile, Melbourne, the city at the epicentre of Australia's coronavirus epidemic, marked its second consecutive day without any locally transmitted cases.

Since ending its strict 112-day lockdown on Tuesday, the city of five million has registered only seven new local COVID-19 cases.

Though Victoria, of which Melbourne is the capital, accounts for at least 20,300 of Australia's more than 27,500 coronavirus cases, the number of active cases in the state has steadily declined in the past 30 days.

Prior to Sunday's announcement, the number of new infections in Victoria had been in single digits since October 13.

In early August, Victoria was recording hundreds of cases per day, leading state authorities to implement the type of strict anti-epidemic measures that governments in Western Europe and the United States have been hesitant to enact out of fear of damaging the economy. This included placing Melbourne residents under a strict seven-week lockdown and barring nearly all trips outdoors.

The state closed its borders to non-essential travel.

Though the decision to lockdown Melbourne was unpopular with some people, by late September, cases had declined to low double-digits, allowing the government to begin lifting restrictions.

Authorities in the state have said they would consider lifting more restrictions if trends continue in the right direction.

Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coron...rus-cases-for-first-time-since-june-1.5169891.

 

[sweep_shot]

Europe may see 'several' waves of Covid-19: experts

(MENAFN - Gulf Times) Europe risks being hit with further waves of coronavirus infections next year, France's scientific council has warned, as the continent scrambles to cope with a second deadly spike in Covid-19 cases.
Even if partial lockdowns being put in place across Europe reduce the rate of new infections, additional waves of disease are probable in the absence of a vaccine, the council said.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced last week a nationwide lockdown until December 1, citing findings of the council, which includes France's top pandemic experts and advises the government on health policy.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson followed suit on Saturday, announcing a partial, month-long shutdown in England -- including restaurants and pubs -- that is to start later this week.
Germany will adopt similar measures as of Monday, with people nationwide confined to their homes, and all bars, restaurants, theatres and cinemas closed.
Spain has imposed a nighttime curfew, and the Italian government is expected to announce new restrictions on Monday.
In France, Macron said the objective of its nationwide lockdown was to bring the number of daily infections down to 5,000.
Currently, France is seeing between 40,000 and 50,000 new cases each day.
The second wave ravaging Europe could taper off by late December or early 2021, the French council said in a statement released late Friday.
"It depends on the virus itself, its environment, the measures that will be taken to limit the circulation of the virus, and the level of compliance," it said.
But in the absence of a vaccine -- not expected to be widely available until well into the new year -- further outbreaks are likely on the horizon.
"It is probable that these measures -- even if they are optimised -- will not suffice to avoid other waves," the council said.
"We might thus have several successive waves during the end of winter and spring 2021."
Weather patterns, the efficacy of test-and-trace policies, and the stringency of lockdowns will all have an impact on their timing, intensity and duration, the experts added.
"We are therefore entering the management of succesive waves of outbreaks... until the arrival of vaccines," the council said, adding that fresh outbreaks would not necessarily be seasonal.
The advisory body highlighted several possible strategies in dealing with successive waves of infection.
One would be an "on/off strategy" of partial lockdowns to limit the circulation of the virus, though tolerance for such measures may be an issue.
"Will the French accept such a strategy? Is it viable for the economy? The questions are there and they remain unanswerable at this time," the council concluded.
Another approach favoured by several Asian countries, Denmark, Finland and Germany aims to limit the number of new cases below a certain threshold -- in France, 5,000 a day -- and take prompt action if cases begins to spike.
This "early intervention" strategy would be the least harmful to economies in the long run, the council said.

MENAFN0211202000670000ID1101058966

Source: https://menafn.com/1101058966/Europe-may-see-several-waves-of-Covid-19-experts.

 

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Azerbaijan registered 596 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, Operational Headquarters under Cabinet of Ministers reported on November 2.

Some 322 patients have recovered and 13 patients have died in the reported period.

So far, 57,040 COVID-19 cases have been registered in the country. Some 44,479 patients have recovered, 753 people have died. Currently, 11,808 people are under treatment in special hospitals.

Over the past day, 5,081 tests were conducted in Azerbaijan to reveal coronavirus cases.

In general, 1,368,620 tests have been conducted in Azerbaijan so far.

Source: https://menafn.com/1101055806/Country-registers-596-new-COVID-19-cases&source=27.

 

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Netherlands orders 9.2 million fast coronavirus tests from US company

The Dutch government has ordered an extra eight million fast tests for coronavirus from a US-based company as it tries to cut waiting times for results. The antigen tests, produced by American company BD, can detect the virus in 15 minutes and were approved by the health ministry for use two weeks ago. They will be used in addition to the PCR tests carried out by local health boards. The first batch of 1.2 million is due to be delivered later this month. A spokesman for BD told Trouw newspaper that the total order of 9.2 million units was the first deal to be concluded with a European government. It is one of a number of rapid tests to be developed in recent months and was given emergency clearance by the US Food and Drug Administration in August. Dutch research institute TNO recently announced it had developed a fast test with a 99% accuracy rate, the same level as the PCR process. The so-called LAMP test works at a molecular level and gives a result in 45 minutes to an hour. Breathomix, based in Leiden, developed a breathalyser test that can rule out the virus in around 75% of cases within 45 minutes. The device has been tested on 1,800 people in Amsterdam. The network of local health boards (GGDs) is currently able to carry out 50,000 tests a day and is working to raise the limit to 90,000 by the end of the month. It said at the weekend that nobody would have to wait more than 24 hours to take a test.

Source: https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/...llion-fast-coronavirus-tests-from-us-company/.

 

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Twitter bans David Icke over Covid misinformation

Twitter has banned the account of British conspiracy theorist David Icke.

"The account referenced has been permanently suspended for violating Twitter's rules regarding Covid misinformation," a spokesman told the BBC.

The action comes six months after Facebook and YouTube took similar action, saying Mr Icke had posted misleading claims about the pandemic.

The 68-year-old had about 382,000 followers on Twitter.

His recent posts had included attacks on Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci and the philanthropist Bill Gates.

In a blog, Mr Icke said was banned for a tweet he had made about plans to pilot city-wide coronavirus testing in Liverpool.

But over recent months he has made false claims such as suggesting that 5G mobile phone networks were linked to the spread of the virus, and that a Jewish group had also been involved.

Covid rules
Mr Icke has promoted fringe theories since the 1990s, but his recent return to prominence was propelled by the spread of Covid-19.

In April, an interview in which he discussed the pandemic was broadcast on local TV station London Live.

It led the regulator Ofcom to rule the channel's owner had broken broadcasting rules because the segment had failed to sufficiently challenge his "unsubstantiated views".

Twitter's rules do not include a general ban on misinformation.

But in July, it would not allow any tweets about Covid-19 that were "claims of fact, demonstrably false or misleading, and likely to cause harm". It added that accounts that repeatedly broke this rule would be permanently removed.

Some campaigners believe action against Mr Icke was long overdue.

"Twitter had allowed him to continue spreading... dangerous Covid misinformation for months," tweeted the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a UK-based campaign group, in response to the ban.

The US social network had earlier blocked another prominent British conspiracy theorist, Kate Shemirani.

Her account was taken offline on Thursday, with Twitter providing the same brief explanation for its removal.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54804240.

 

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Ukraine- MPs amend law on state budget 2020 over COVID-19

(MENAFN - UkrinForm) The Verkhovna Rada has adopted as a whole the Law "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2020" Concerning Public Borrowing".

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, 296 MPs voted in favor of the law at a parliament meeting on Tuesday, November 3.

"The draft law has been drawn up to address the issue of ensuring funding for measures aimed at preventing the emergence, spread and elimination of the consequences of coronavirus disease (COVID-19)," the explanatory note says.

The adopted document makes changes to the article of the Law "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2020", according to which the annual planned fund allocation increases by UAH 556,695,7 thousand.

As of November 3, 411,093 COVID-19 cases were laboratory confirmed in Ukraine, including 8,899 cases recorded during the previous day.

Source: https://menafn.com/1101064706/Ukraine-MPs-amend-law-on-state-budget-2020-over-COVID-19.

 

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Weather alone has no significant effect on Covid-19 spread: Study

New York, Nov 3 (IANS) While some reports have claimed that cold weather can increase the spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus, a new study by an Indian-origin scientist reveals that hot or cold -- weather alone has no significant effect on Covid-19 spread.

The link between weather and Covid-19 is complicated. Weather influences the environment in which the coronavirus must survive before infecting a new host.

But it also influences human behaviour, which moves the virus from one host to another.

The current study, published in the journal International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, found that temperature and humidity do not play a significant role in coronavirus spread.

That means whether it's hot or cold outside, the transmission of Covid-19 from one person to the next depends almost entirely on human behaviour.

"The effect of weather is low and other features such as mobility have more impact than the weather. In terms of relative importance, the weather is one of the last parameters," said study author Dev Niyogi from the University of Texas at Austin in the US.

The study defined weather as "equivalent air temperature," which combines temperature and humidity into a single value.

The scientists then analysed how this value tracked with coronavirus spread in different areas from March to July 2020, with their scale ranging from US states and counties to countries, regions and the world at large.

At the county and state scale, the researchers also investigated the relationship between coronavirus infection and human behaviour, using cell phone data to study travel habits.

The study examined human behaviour in a general sense and did not attempt to connect it to how the weather may have influenced it. At each scale, the researchers adjusted their analyses so that population differences did not skew results.

Across scales, the scientists found that the weather had nearly no influence.

When it was compared with other factors using a statistical metric that breaks down the relative contribution of each factor toward a particular outcome, the weather's relative importance at the county scale was less than three per cent, with no indication that a specific type of weather promoted spread over another.

"We shouldn't think of the problem as something driven by weather and climate. We should take personal precautions, be aware of the factors in urban exposure," the study authors wrote.

The researchers said that assumptions about how coronavirus would respond with weather are largely informed by studies conducted in laboratory settings on related viruses.

This study illustrates the importance of studies that analyse how the coronavirus spreads through human communities.

Source: https://menafn.com/1101061361/Weather-alone-has-no-significant-effect-on-Covid-19-spread-Study.

 

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Chile calls on public to avert 2nd Covid-19 wave

Santiago, Nov 3 (IANS) Chilean Health Minister Enrique Paris has urged the public to practice social distancing and other safety measures to prevent a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, as the number of confirmed cases has topped the over half a million mark.

"Compatriots, our country may also suffer a second wave of coronavirus, a significant setback, and revert towards greater restrictions and have more infected patients," Xinhua news agency quoted the Minister as saying at a press conference on Monday, referring to the re-emergence of the virus in Europe.

"We do not want to have a second wave as large as the one that Europe is having, and we will make every possible effort to avoid an increase in infections and more patients dying," he added .

The Ministry of Health said it registered a total of 513,188 confirmed cases of Covid-19 cases since the start of the outbreak here, including 1,314 infections in the last 24 hours.

Another 55 patients died of the disease in the same period, raising the death toll to 14,302.

Source: https://menafn.com/1101060527/Chile-calls-on-public-to-avert-2nd-Covid-19-wave&source=30.

 

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Netherlands’ coronavirus cases begin to decline

The Netherlands is seeing a decrease in new coronavirus infections, according to figures released Wednesday by the country’s National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).

The Netherlands recorded 7,657 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, a number that is lower than the 7,769 cases recorded between Monday and Tuesday.

Tuesday marked the first time in two months that the Netherlands’ weekly average of new infections had fallen.

The Netherlands has counted over 383,500 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic. Belgium, which has also seen the number of new cases decrease, has counted 452,541 cases since the start of the pandemic.

Source: https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/...virus-cases-rivm-infections-confirmed-deaths/.

 

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Spain's coronavirus death toll hits 38,118 after government revises count

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s death toll from the coronavirus reached 38,118 after the Health Ministry revised its methodology for recording infections and fatalities, official data showed on Wednesday, up sharply from Tuesday’s unrevised 36,495.

The tally of infections now stands at 1,284,408 cases, according to the latest data release, which removes double entries and adds some cases that were not initially diagnosed as COVID-19. On Tuesday, the ministry reported 1,259,366 cases.

Unlike France, Germany and Britain, which have imposed nationwide lockdowns, Spain has adopted a regional response to tackling the pandemic, leading to a patchwork of different regulations.

Murcia on Wednesday joined several other regions including Catalonia in shutting down bars and restaurants, while the northern region of Cantabria banned citizens from travelling across municipal borders.

Health Minister Salvador Illa told a news conference it would take two to three weeks for the latest regional restrictions to produce effect, but added that “there is still margin to take additional measures, there are a great many steps we can still take”, without specifying.

Source: https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-spain-idUKKBN27K2HS.

 

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Belgium’s new Covid-19 cases decrease, but hospitalisations continue to rise

The number of additional people who tested positive for the coronavirus in Belgium started to decrease over the past week, but the hospitalisations continue to rise, according to Sciensano’s latest figures on Wednesday.

Between 25 and 31 October, an average of 14,235.4 new people tested positive per day over the past week, which is a decrease of 4% compared to the week before.

The total number of confirmed cases in Belgium since the beginning of the pandemic is 452,541. The total reflects all people in Belgium who have been infected, and includes confirmed active cases as well as patients who have since recovered, or died as a result of the virus.

Over the past two weeks, 1,774.8 infections were confirmed per 100,000 inhabitants, an increase of 90% compared to the two weeks before.

Source: https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/...tensive-care-icu-deaths-ventilator-sciensano/.

 

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Brazil reports 610 new COVID-19 deaths: health ministry

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil reported 23,976 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 610 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

The South American country has now registered 5,590,025 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 161,106, according to ministry data, in the world’s most fatal outbreak outside the United States.

Source: https://in.reuters.com/article/us-h...covid-19-deaths-health-ministry-idINKBN27K2QK.

 

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Mental confusion can be early symptom of Covid: Study

(MENAFN - IANS)

London, Nov 5 (IANS) New research adds to the growing body of evidence that delirium, a state of acute mental confusion, accompanied by a fever could be an early symptom of Covid-19.

Delirium is an abrupt change in the brain that causes mental confusion and emotional disruption. It makes it difficult to think, remember, sleep, pay attention, and more.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Immunology and Immunotherapy, highlights the fact that, together with the loss of the senses of taste and smell and headaches that occur in the days prior to the manifestation of coughing and breathing difficulties, some patients also develop delirium.

"As such, the manifestation of this state of confusion, when accompanied by high fever, should be considered an early marker of the disease, particularly in the case of elderly patients," said study researcher Javier Correa from Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) in Spain.

"We need to be on the alert, particularly in an epidemiological situation like this, because an individual presenting certain signs of confusion may be an indication of infection," Correa added.

For the results, the research team reviewed the body of scientific work published on the effects of Covid-19 in relation to the central nervous system, i.e. the brain.

The review found that, although the first cases of pneumonia were reported in China focused on the damage it causes to the lungs and other organs, such as the kidneys and heart, there are growing indications that the coronavirus also affects the central nervous system and produces neurocognitive alterations, such as headaches and delirium, as well as psychotic episodes.

"The main hypotheses which explain how the coronavirus affects the brain point to three possible causes: hypoxia or neuronal oxygen deficiency, inflammation of brain tissue due to cytokine storm and the fact that the virus has the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier to directly invade the brain," commented Correa.

He stressed that any one of these three factors has the potential to result in delirium and explained that evidence of hypoxia-related brain damage.

It has been observed in autopsies carried out on patients who have died from the infection and that it has been possible to isolate the virus from the cerebral tissue.

According to the researchers, delirium, cognitive deficits and behavioural anomalies are most likely to be the result of systemic inflammation of the organ and a state of hypoxia,

"It also causes the neuronal tissue to become inflamed and cause damage in areas such as the hippocampus, which are associated with the cognitive dysfunctions and behavioural alterations presented by patients suffering delirium," the team explained.

Last month, another study, published in the journal Age and Ageing, revealed that delirium is a key symptom of Covid-19 in frail, older people.

Source: https://menafn.com/1101075806/Mental-confusion-can-be-early-symptom-of-Covid-Study.

 

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Australia's Victoria completes full week with no COVID-19 cases

By Renju Jose

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Victoria state reported its seventh consecutive day of zero locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Friday, suggesting a three-month strict lockdown in the city of Melbourne has successfully contained a second wave outbreak.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said the state remained on track to ease travel curbs to allow movement between state capital Melbourne and other parts of the state on Sunday, but he urged people to remain vigilant.

"We can't just pretend that seven days of zeros is like a vaccine against this virus, it isn't," Andrews told reporters.

A three-month lockdown was imposed in Melbourne to stall an outbreak that peaked at more than 700 new cases reported in a single day in early August.

New South Wales state on Friday reported four new cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 and another five involving people in quarantine. Australia's other states and territories have effectively eliminated the virus.

Officials have in recent days relaxed some restrictions that had stopped people crossing internal state and territory borders.

Andrews said travellers from New Zealand would be allowed to fly direct to Melbourne from Monday and would not need to quarantine on arrival. Australia has allowed incoming travellers from New Zealand since Oct. 16 under the first stage of a "travel bubble" with its neighbour.

The relaxation of regional border rules prompted Qantas and Virgin Australia to announce they would boost the number of their flights later this month on the Sydney-Melbourne route, one of the busiest in the world before the pandemic.

Australia has recorded just over 27,600 novel coronavirus infections and 907 deaths, far fewer than many other developed countries.

(Reporting by Renju Jose; editing by Jane Wardell)

Source: https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/n...etes-full-week-with-no-covid-19-cases-517442/.

 

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Ukraine- Kyiv reports 1,002 new coronavirus cases

(MENAFN - UkrinForm) The city of Kyiv has recorded 1,002 new coronavirus cases in the past day, bringing the total to 42,375, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

'We have a difficult situation. Dynamics is extremely negative. Kyiv has reported more than a thousand new cases of the disease in the past 24 hours 1,002 people have tested positive for the coronavirus. Fourteen people have died, he said at a briefing on November 6, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to Klitschko, among people who have contracted COVID-19 in Kyiv in the past day are 556 women aged 18-84 years; 34 girls aged between 8 months and 17 years; 377 men aged 18-92 years; 35 boys aged between 25 days and 17 years old. In addition, 39 health workers have tested positive for COVID-19.

At the same time, 1,449 Kyiv residents have recovered over the course of the past day. In total, 15,218 Kyiv residents have overcome the disease.

As of November 6, 440,188 COVID-19 cases were laboratory confirmed in Ukraine, including 9,721 cases recorded during the previous day.

Source: https://menafn.com/1101085098/Ukraine-Kyiv-reports-1002-new-coronavirus-cases.

 

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Russia reports one-day high of 20,582 new COVID-19 cases

(MENAFN - IANS)

Moscow, Nov 7 (IANS) Russia has confirmed a record number of 20,582 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total to 1,733,440, the country's COVID-19 response center said in a statement.

Meanwhile, 378 new deaths were reported, taking the nationwide count to 29,887, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

Moscow, the country's worst-hit region, reported 6,253 new cases, taking its tally of infections to 456,689, the response center said.

According to the statement, 1,296,124 people have recovered, including 16,955 over the past day.

So far, over 63.5 million tests have been conducted across the country.

Source: https://menafn.com/1101086229/Russia-reports-one-day-high-of-20582-new-COVID-19-cases.

 

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Dutch mink farms in spotlight again after mutant Covid virus found in Denmark

The World Health Organisation is looking into biosecurity at mink farms following the decision by Denmark to cull all 17 million mink on the country’s fur farms because a mutated version of coronavirus has spread to people who work on them. The WHO’s coronavirus technical chief Maria van Kerkhove told a briefing in Geneva on Friday that transmission of the virus between animals and humans was ‘a concern,’ but added that mutations are normal and have been tracked since the beginning of the pandemic, Reuters reported on Friday. The Netherlands is the third biggest mink farming nation in the world. Health minister Hugo de Jonge told MPs on Wednesday the cabinet does not have any indications that the virus has mutated in the same way here, but the farm ministry has not yet replied to DutchNews.nl questions about the implications for the Netherlands. DutchNews.nl has asked the ministry if similar measures are likely in the Netherlands, given that there are proven examples of mink to human transmission here and if the Dutch authorities have been in contact with Danish officials about the sort of mutation. Denmark says the cull, and an immediate regional lockdown are necessary to minimise the risk of the new form of the virus taking hold.

The mutation has been found in 214 people in the north of the country and, Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen has said there are serious concerns that the mutated virus may risk the effectiveness of a future vaccine. Coronavirus was first established on mink farms in the Netherlands in the early spring and has now spread to 69 of the 110 fur farms in the country. The most recent infection, in Sevenum, was confirmed earlier this week. So far farm minister Carola Schouten has resisted calls for a mass cull of all mink on Dutch fur farms, even though scientists said in September that at least 66 fur farm workers and their family members have been infected with coronavirus. The team used genome sequencing to trace the spread of the virus between mink, cats and humans and found that 66 people and 11 cats all had a ‘mink variety’ of the virus. Fur trade At the time, virologist Marion Koopmans told the Volkskrant that she could not rule out fur trade having a role in the spread of the virus to humans in China. ‘It could be a plausible point in the route which virus has followed as it moved from bats to humans,’ she told the paper. ‘This could be one of the links we are still missing.’ Coronavirus has also been found in mink on fur farms in Spain and the US. German research also suggested that the transmission of the virus from animal to human in China, where it originated, may be due to to raccoon dogs, which are bred for their fur. Despite Dutch government has decided, however, that the Dutch fur industry will be phased out this year, when the current pups are gassed for their fur during the winter.

Source: https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/...in-after-mutant-covid-virus-found-in-denmark/.

 

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Spain: Deaths remain high as COVID-19 batters nursing homes

Another 347 people died from the disease and infections remain at a high plateau

OVIEDO, Spain

Spain’s Health Ministry reported 347 more deaths from COVID-19 and another 22,516 new infections on Friday, as many Spanish nursing homes reported new outbreaks.

Until yesterday, the country had not seen beyond 300 daily deaths since late April.

Infections and hospitalizations on Friday remained high but stable, which could be the result of the more restrictive measures that came with the state of emergency declared 12 days ago.

Now, all of the regions in the north of Spain, Murcia and Spain’s Moroccan enclaves have moved to close or limit bars and restaurants. Throughout the country, except for the Canary Islands, there is a curfew that begins between 10 PM and midnight.

Over the last two weeks, the Health Ministry has confirmed 247,000 new infections.

The second wave has not spared Spain’s nursing homes. According to data compiled by Spanish broadcaster SER on Friday, over the last week at least 477 residents of these centers have died – up 42% from the previous week.

One nursing home in the Catalan town of Falset has reported 40 deaths from an outbreak that was first detected in September.

The small region of Asturias, which has seen record numbers of deaths this week, detected 40 outbreaks in different nursing homes between October 27 and November 2.

The region of La Rioja, which already has around half of its intensive care units full of COVID-19 patients, saw the number of active infections in nursing homes double on Friday compared to Thursday.

A recent study conducted by the government of Madrid, which has managed to stabilize hospitalizations and infections in recent weeks, suggests that around 53% of residents in Madrid nursing homes and other care centers have antibodies that indicate the previous infection.

More than a quarter of all Madrid nursing homes are considered highly immune to the disease, with between 70-100% of residents testing positive for antibodies.

In total, at least 38,833 people have died in Spain from COVID-19, many of whom lived in nursing homes.

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/spain-deaths-remain-high-as-covid-19-batters-nursing-homes/2034957.