Eleanor Ainge Roy
In other news of daring New Zealand escapes (possibly): a specialist search and recovery team has been deployed to recapture the last remaining survivors of a flock of endangered birds that absconded from a predator-free island in New Zealand during coronavirus lockdown.
Shore plovers are endemic to New Zealand and renowned for their “attitude and friendliness” – traits which alongside their ground nests make them highly vulnerable to predators.
Mana Island off the coast of the North Island’s Kapiti coast was a successful home to an introduced colony of plovers in 2007. But a few short years after being introduced a single rat wiped out half the population, with the rest dying shortly later due to “complications”.
After the 2007 devastation conservationists avoided reintroducing the plover until the pest situation was resolved.
But in April and May they again took the plunge, transporting 29 young birds to the island, some of whom required ministerial approval to travel during the Covid-19 lockdown.
New Zealand police to patrol quarantine hotels after breakouts
Eleanor Ainge Roy
Police officers will patrol New Zealand’s quarantine hotels around-the-clock after a number of people – including a man who tested positive for coronavirus – escaped the managed isolation facilities.
In two separate incidents in Auckland hotels guests in isolation left their quarantine hotels, with one woman escaping over a hedge, and another man over a small fence.
The 32-year-old man – who was away for 70 minutes and visited a busy inner-city supermarket – tested positive for Covid-19. He has since been charged under new public health legislation. He faces a large fine or six months in prison.
Government minister Megan Woods said on Thursday “the abscondees are a new phenomenon” and that their carelessness put the health of the whole country at risk. New Zealand has in effect eliminated the virus after a six-week lockdown, with ongoing tight border controls.
School tudents in Melbourne to receive daily temperature checks
Following the advice of Victoria’s chief health officer, the Victorian government has today announced that students at government schools in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire will receive a temperature check every morning, with thermometers also provided to all non-government schools.
More than 14,000 non-contact infrared thermometers will be given to government, independent and Catholic schools in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, and to schools in neighbouring areas who need to undertake
testing.
The government will also provide thermometers to those early childhood education and care services who require them.
29 Mississippi legislators test positive for Coronavirus
At least 26 legislators and 10 others who work at Mississippi’s Capitol have tested positive for the coronavirus, a public health official said Wednesday, as the governor implored residents to take precautions amid a rapid rise in confirmed cases statewide, AP reports.
The 174-member Legislature ended its annual session 1 July, and many people in the Capitol did not wear masks or maintain distance between themselves and others during the last few weeks. Lieutenant-governor Delbert Hosemann and House Speaker Philip Gunn are among those who publicly acknowledge testing positive for Covid-19. They are now quarantined at home.
Members of the Mississippi Health Response Team take down medical information from people potentially affected by coronavirus at the Mississippi Legislature at the Capitol in Jackson on Monday, 6 July 2020. Photograph: Rogelio V Solis/AP
The number of people infected at the Capitol could actually be higher. The reported number only reflects those who were tested recently in Jackson, said the state’s top public health official, Dr. Thomas Dobbs. Some legislators have also been tested since returning to their hometowns.
Republican Governor Tate Reeves who has tested negative said he will not issue a statewide order for people to wear masks, as some other governors have done. But, he hinted that he could restore some restrictions on bars or other places if people don’t stop congregating in large groups.
Reeves said some hospitals are at or near capacity for intensive care beds. The state is limiting elective surgeries in a few counties to keep hospital beds open for Covid-19 patients.
Podcast: The Leicester garment factories exposed by Covid-19
A spike in cases of Covid-19 in Leicester has led Guardian reporter Archie Bland to its garment factories. He discusses a story that goes beyond the pandemic and into workers’ rights, appalling factory conditions and the ethics of fast fashion:
Hi, Helen Sullivan with you today. I’m be bringing you the latest news from around the world for the next few hours.
Please do get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email – [email protected] – with news, questions, tips, suggestions, shocking confessions.
Thank you to those who have taken the time to get in touch today with helpful suggestions!
Updated
Cases worldwide pass 12 million
The number of known coronavirus cases globally passed 12 million on Thursday, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, which relies on official government data.
There have been 548,799 deaths so far and 12,007,327 cases.
The US, which passed 3m cases on Thursday, accounts for quarter of all cases and just under one in four deaths.
Updated
Gilead Sciences Inc said on Wednesday it has started an early-stage study of its antiviral Covid-19 treatment remdesivir that can be inhaled, for use outside of hospitals.
The company said the trial, which will enrol about 60 healthy Americans aged between 18 and 45, will test the drug particularly in those cases where the disease has not progressed to require hospitalisation.
The drug is currently used intravenously and an inhaled formulation would be given through a nebuliser, which could potentially allow for easier administration outside hospitals.
Remdesivir was granted emergency use authorisation in the United States to treat severe cases of COVID-19 in patients who are hospitalised.
Gilead is hoping to target the disease at the onset with the inhaled form of remdesivir, by delivering the drug directly to the primary site of infection.
Remdesivir is believed to be at the forefront in the fight against the coronavirus after the drug helped shorten hospital recovery times in a clinical trial.
Gilead also plans to start additional clinical trials to evaluate remdesivir when used in combination with anti-inflammatory medicines.
Mexico on Wednesday posted a record for new coronavirus cases reported on a single day, with 6,995 cases, bringing its overall tally of infections to 275,003, health ministry data showed.
The country also recorded 782 additional fatalities, bringing its overall death toll to 32,796.
Mexico’s previous one-day record was last week on Thursday when 6,741 new cases were registered.
A man digs a grave at the Xico cemetery, as the coronavirus outbreak continues, in Valle de Chalco, Mexico 29 June 2020. Photograph: Carlos Jasso/Reuters
A Texas inmate received lethal injection Wednesday evening for fatally shooting an 82-year-old man nearly three decades ago, ending a five-month delay of executions in the state because of the coronavirus pandemic, AP reports.
Billy Joe Wardlow was put to death at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the June 1993 killing of Carl Cole at his home in Cason, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) east of Dallas in the East Texas piney woods, near the Louisiana and Arkansas borders.
The US Supreme Court declined to stop the 45-year-old man’s execution.
Wardlow was the first inmate in Texas to receive a lethal injection since 6 February and the second in the US since the nation began reopening following pandemic-related shutdowns.
Russia has approved a new antiviral drug, Coronavir, to treat Civud-19 patients, its developer R-Pharm said on Wednesday, as Russia’s tally of infections hit 700,000.
It said a clinical trial involving mild or medium-level cases had shown the drug to be highly effective in inhibiting replication of the new coronavirus.
“Coronavir is one of the first drugs in Russia and in the world that does not tackle the complications caused by SARS-CoV-2, but battles the virus itself,” the company’s statement said.
It said a clinical study showed improvement in 55% of outpatient cases on the seventh day of treatment with Coronavir, against 20% of those with standard etiotropic therapy – meaning treatment of cause rather than symptoms. R-Pharm said there was also a significant difference at 14 days.
By the fifth day of treatment, the novel coronavirus had been eliminated in 77.5% of patients who took the drug, R-Pharm said.
Testing began in late May and over 110 outpatients have now received the treatment, the head of clinical trials at Russia’s Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Tatyana Ryzhentsova, was cited as saying.
The drug is the third registered in Russia to treat the new coronavirus. The first, Avifavir, has been given to patients since June 11.
The health ministry gave its approval for Avifavir’s use under an accelerated process while clinical trials, held over a shorter period and with fewer people than in many other countries, were still under way.
Russia’s official nationwide case tally stood at 700,792 as of Wednesday, with 10,667 deaths.
Updated
A record 40.5% of all 18-year-olds in the UK have applied to go to university, with numbers rising significantly during lockdown, according to the university admissions service Ucas.
It is the first time that more than four out of 10 students (40.5%) had applied by 30 June to go to university and the figures will offer some comfort to universities bracing themselves for the Covid-19 aftershock.
At the same point in the admissions cycle last year, the figure was 38.9%, and Ucas points out that between mid-March and the end of June, when the pandemic was at its height in the UK, applications rose by 17%.
Applications for nursing are up 15% year on year, and Ucas says that for the first time more than a quarter (25.4%) of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds had applied to university or college by 30 June, the final deadline to apply for up to five courses simultaneously.
Nearly 3,000 miners infected in Chile
Unions at Chile’s Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, said on Wednesday that nearly 3,000 workers had been infected with the coronavirus, prompting renewed calls for more safety measures at the company’s sprawling operations.
Patricio Elgueta, president of the Federation of Copper Workers, an umbrella group for the company’s unions, told Reuters it had tallied 2,843 coronavirus infections among workers as of 5 July. Codelco did not immediately reply to requests for comment on the figure.
Some unions and social groups have called on Codelco and other miners to halt operations around the mining hub of Calama, a desert city surrounded by some of Chile’s largest copper deposits.
People wearing masks line up to collect state bonds or loans to face the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic on July 8, 2020 in Santiago, Chile. Photograph: Marcelo Hernández/Getty Images
Chile will begin easing lockdown measures in two southern regions on Monday with 800,000 people able to resume some of their activities and those over 75 able to go out once a day.
Restaurants, cinemas, theaters and cafes will be allowed to open at 25% capacity. Sporting activities can be carried out without an audience and can include up to 10 people in enclosed spaces and 50 in the open.
The new measures will apply in the Los Ríos and Aysén regions in the countrys south. If a new outbreak occurs in either region, the government said tighter restrictions will be considered.
The number of people with confirmed infections of the new coronavirus surpassed 300,000 in the South American country, the sixth highest figure in the world.
Cases worldwide near 12 million
The number of confirmed infections worldwide over the course of the pandemic so gar is nearing 12 million, according the Johns Hopkins University tracker, which relies on official government data, with 11,982,883 currently confirmed.
The US, the worst-affected country worldwide in terms of number of cases and deaths, accounts for a quarter of the world’s cases, and just under one in four coronavirus-related deaths globally.
There have been 547,722 deaths over the course of the pandemic so far.
The true case and death figures are likely to be higher, due to delays in reporting, differing definitions and testing rates, and suspected underreporting in some countries.
Here are the countries worldwide with more than 200,000 known infections:
- US: 3,040,957 (deaths: 132,095)
- Brazil: 1,713,160 (deaths: 67,964)
- India: 742,417 (deaths: 20,642)
- Russia: 699,749 (deaths: 10,650)
- Peru: 312,911 (deaths:11,133 )
- Chile: 303,083 (deaths: 6,573)
- United Kingdom: 288,510 (deaths: 44,602)
- Mexico: 268,008 (deaths: 32,014)
- Spain: 252,513 (deaths: 28,396)
- Iran: 248,379 (deaths: 12,084)
- Italy: 242,149 (deaths: 34,914)
- Pakistan: 237,489 (deaths: 4,922)
- South Africa: 224,665 (deaths: 3,602)
- Saudi Arabia: 220,144 (deaths: 2,059)
- Turkey: 208,938 (deaths: 5,282)
- France: 206,072 (deaths: 29,936)
Updated
Trump’s Tulsa rally ‘likely contributed’ to city’s surge in cases
US President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa in late June that drew thousands of participants and large protests “likely contributed” to a dramatic surge in new coronavirus cases, Tulsa City-County Health Department Director Dr. Bruce Dart said Wednesday.
Tulsa County reported 261 confirmed new cases on Monday, a one-day record high, and another 206 cases on Tuesday. By comparison, during the week before the June 20 Trump rally, there were 76 cases on Monday and 96 on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump speaks at BOK Center during his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on 20 June 2020. The head of the Tulsa-County Health Department says Trump’s campaign rally in late June “likely contributed” to a dramatic surge in new coronavirus cases there. Photograph: Stephen Pingry/AP
Although the health department’s policy is to not publicly identify individual settings where people may have contracted the virus, Dart said those large gatherings “more than likely” contributed to the spike.
“In the past few days, we’ve seen almost 500 new cases, and we had several large events just over two weeks ago, so I guess we just connect the dots,” Dart said.
Trump’s Tulsa rally, his first since the coronavirus pandemic hit the US, attracted thousands of people from around the country. About 6,200 people gathered inside the 19,000-seat BOK Center arena far fewer than was expected.
Dart had urged the campaign to consider pushing back the date of the rally, fearing a potential surge in the number of coronavirus cases.
Although masks were provided to rally goers, there was no requirement that participants wear them, and most didn’t, AP reports.
Updated
Australian city of Melbourne re-enters lockdown
Calla Wahlquist
Australia’s second largest city, Melbourne, has re-entered lockdown, as the state of Victoria struggles to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has seen daily cases rise by over 100 for several days.
The curve has flattened, bent, and bounced back up. The jigsaw puzzles have all been completed, and children who were prepared to go along with the first seven-week lockdown being a fun adventure are now anxious. Holidays were cancelled, again.
The return to lockdown, announced after Victoria recorded its highest daily increase in cases of the pandemic so far, was met with a mixture of resignation and relief; fury and sadness.
The stage three stay-at-home orders that will apply across greater Melbourne and the Mitchell shire ban anyone from leaving their home except for essential shopping, work or school that cannot be done remotely, caregiving and medical appointments, and exercise.
US cases rise by world record 60,000 in one day
The US has reported the highest one-day rise in new coronavirus for any country since the start if the pandemic, with more than 60,000 new cases recorded in a single day, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, which relies on official figures, as 35 states see growing numbers of new cases from last week.
ICUs at 56 hospitals in Florida have reached capacity. California hospitalisations are at an all-time high, and Texas hospitalisations have broken state records for the tenth say in a row, according to the health department.
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest news from around the world for the next few hours.
Please do get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email – [email protected] – with news, questions, tips and suggestions.
The US has reported the highest one-day rise in new coronavirus for any country since the start if the pandemic, with 60,000 new cases recorded in a single day, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, which relies on official figures, as 35 states see growing numbers of new cases from last week.
ICUs at 56 hospitals in Florida have reached capacity. California hospitalisations are at an all-time high, and Texas hospitalisations have broken state records for the tenth say in a row, according to the health department.
- Cases worldwide are nearing 12 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, with 11,982,883 currently confirmed. There have been 547,722 deaths over the course of the pandemic so far.
- Australia’s second largest city, Melbourne, has re-entered lockdown, as the state of Victoria struggles to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has seen daily cases rise by over 100 for several days.
- The US has surpassed three million confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. It said there have been 131,960 deaths among the total of 3,022,899 cases.
- US President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa “likely contributed” to a dramatic surge in coronavirus cases, Tulsa City-County Health Department Director Dr. Bruce Dart said. Tulsa County reported 261 confirmed new cases on Monday, a one-day record high, and another 206 cases on Tuesday. The rally drew thousands of people in June.
- Vice President Mike Pence urged schools to reopen despite the pandemic, echoing comments from Trump. During a White House coronavirus task force briefing at the US department of education, Pence said, “It’s time for us to get our kids back to school.” But many school officials are expressing doubts about their ability to safely reopen their doors.
- Trump threatened to withhold funding from schools that don’t reopen. The president also criticised the school reopening guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as “very tough” and “expensive.”
- Jair Bolsonaro vetoed provisions of a law requiring government to provide drinking water, disinfectants and guaranteed hospital beds to indigenous communities amid the pandemic. The Brazilian President, who has tested positive for coronavirus, vetoed 16 parts of the law on efforts to address the coronavirus threat to the indigenous population, but still allowed for provisions on adequate testing, ambulance services and medical equipment.
- Argentina posted a daily record of cases. Argentina has posted a daily record of 3,604 confirmed cases of Covid-19.The sharp rise, the first time daily cases have surpassed 3,000, took the total number to 87,030, fivefold the number at the start of June, though still well below case loads in Brazil, Chile and Peru.Argentina’s center-left government imposed a strict lockdown in mid-March, which has been loosened in most of the country but was extended and reinforced last month in and around Buenos Aires due to a spike in cases.The country’s death toll from the pandemic stands at 1,694.
- The Australian city of Melbourne has begun a new lockdown after a surge of infections. Among the restrictions are that visits to other people’s homes are limited to if you are giving or receiving care or if you are in an “intimate personal relationship”.
- Italian authorities stopped 125 Bangladeshi people from entering the country today after they landed at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on a flight from Qatar. Yesterday, Italy suspended flights from Bangladesh for a week after 36 people who arrived in Rome on board a flight the day before tested positive for coronavirus.
- The number of coronavirus cases has passed the 301,000 mark in Chile, according to the Johns-Hopkins University tracker. The figure is currently 301,019, which is the sixth highest in the world after the US, Brazil, India, Russia, and Peru.
- Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel has warned the European Union not to waste time in agreeing a recovery plan to pull the continent out of a historic recession caused by the coronavirus lockdown. Merkel said she hoped to see a deal before the summer break on a proposed €750bn recovery plan.
- Austria’s government has announced travel restrictions for fellow EU members Romania and Bulgaria after a spike in the number of coronavirus cases in both countries. Greece, which like Austria, has had a low number of infections and deaths compared with other European nations, has also expressed concern about imported cases from the Balkans.
- Iran’s coronavirus death toll exceeded 12,000 on Wednesday, the health ministry said, with 153 deaths in the past 24 hours, amid a sharp rise in the number of daily infections and deaths in the past week as lockdown measures have eased.
