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First coronavirus-linked death in Melanesia as Papua New Guinea outbreak spreads
Ben Doherty
Papua New Guinea has recorded its first Covid-19-related death – the first Pacific island fatality outside US territories and the first in Melanesia – as it seeks to contain an outbreak in the main hospital in its capital, Port Moresby.
The 48-year-old woman – who had stage four breast cancer – died in Port Moresby general hospital on Sunday. She died with the novel coronavirus, doctors said, and her illness and death “may have been complicated by Covid-19”.
Before the woman’s infection and death, all five confirmed cases in PNG in the past week were among workers at the central public health laboratory, where Covid-19 tests are being conducted, at Port Moresby general hospital. A cluster in the hospital has raised questions about the country’s capacity to safely test and treat cases in an outbreak.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un berated construction managers for unspecified problems in building a showpiece hospital in comments reported Monday that may indicate the country is struggling to secure the supplies amid US-led sanctions and a coronavirus lockdown, AP reports.
During a visit to the construction site in Pyongyang, Kim lamented that his ambitious project of building a new general hospital was being carried out in a careless manner and without a proper budget and ordered all officials responsible to be replaced, the Norths official Korean Central News Agency said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Pyongyang General Hospital construction site, in this undated photo released on 19 July 2020 by the North Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang. Photograph: KCNA/Reuters
In announcing the plans to build the hospital in March, Kim made a rare acknowledgement that his country lacks modern medical facilities and called for urgent improvements in the country’s health care system.
However, the country hasn’t directly linked the hospital project to the coronavirus pandemic and has steadfastly maintained that no one in its territory has been sickened by Covid-19, a claim many foreign experts doubt.
Experts say the pandemic has hurt the North’s economy, already battered by stringent US-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
Experts say the Covid-19 crisis likely thwarted some of Kims major economic goals by forcing the country into a lockdown that shut the border with China, its major ally and economic lifeline, and potentially hampered his ability to mobilise people for labor.
Here is some video footage of US President Donald Trump’s bizarre Fox News interview:
Five strange moments from Trump’s Fox News interview – video
Mexico’s Health Ministry on Sunday reported 5,311 new confirmed coronavirus infections and 296 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 344,224 cases and 39,184 deaths.
The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
El Salvador to postpone second reopening phase
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said on Sunday that he would postpone the second phase of the country’s economic reopening, slated to begin Tuesday, after evaluating inputs from experts and the Salvadoran health ministry, Reuters reports.
Just on Saturday, the president had reiterated his intention to move forward with the next stage of restarting the economy.
Members of the Salvadoran Social Security Institute workers’ union gather around an empty coffin as they participate in a protest asking for quarantine measures to contain the spread of coronavirus in San Salvador, El Salvador 16 July 2020. Photograph: José Cabezas/Reuters
“After listening to the opinions of experts and above all, the Ministry of Health … I have decided to suspend Phase 2 of the economic reopening,” Bukele wrote in a post on Twitter.
Bukele and El Salvador’s congress have clashed over how to manage the pandemic. Lawmakers have so far refused to approve a request from Bukele’s government for new emergency measures to restrict the movement of people.
El Salvador has registered a total of 11,846 coronavirus cases and 335 deaths.
China has reported 22 new coronavirus cases, according to the People’s Daily, with 17 of these community transmission cases from Xinjiang.
China launched mass health screenings in the western Xinjiang province late last week after a spike in cases raised fears of a fresh outbreak. Flights into the regional capital Ürümqi were suspended along with the city’s subway services after 17 cases were found on Saturday.
“The whole city has entered a ‘wartime state’, and will suspend all kinds of group activities,” state media quoted an official giving a briefing.
People’s Daily, China
(@PDChina)On Sunday, the Chinese mainland reported:
– No new #COVID19 deaths
– 22 new cases: 5 imported cases and 17 domestically transmitted cases in Xinjiang
– 13 new asymptomatic cases
– 249 active cases in total, including 5 in critical condition pic.twitter.com/Zt2FFWVlZL
New Zealand has reported one new coronavirus case, a man in an isolation facility, the Ministry of Health announced, as the country marks 80 days without local transmission from an unknown source:
- Today there is one new case of Covid-19 in managed isolation to report.
- It has now been 80 days since the last case of Covid-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source.
- Today’s case is a man in his 40s who arrived in the country last Wednesday from Mexico, flying via Los Angeles.
- He tested positive following day 3 surveillance testing and has been transferred, along with his family, to a quarantine facility in Auckland.
- The number of active cases in New Zealand is now 26.
- The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is now 1,204, which is the number we report to the World Health Organization.
Australian state of Victoria records 275 cases
In Australia another 275 coronavirus cases have been recorded in the stat eof Victoria and a woman in her 80s has died.
There are 147 Victorians in hospital, 31 of those are in intensive care, Premier Daniel Andrews said on Monday.
Victoria now has a total of 5942 cases since the pandemic began, 2913 of those active.
Australia outbreak will take ‘weeks’ to subside
A surge in Covid-19 cases in Australia’s second-biggest city could take weeks to subside despite a lockdown and orders to wear masks, Australia’s acting chief medical officer said on Monday as the country braces for a second wave of infection.
The respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus flared up in Victoria state in July, mainly in Melbourne, with a daily record of 438 new cases detected on Friday, Reuters reports.
Victoria’s government has ordered about five million people into a partial lockdown for six weeks and told residents around Melbourne to cover their faces if they have to leave their homes.
Australia’s Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said it would take “weeks” to slow the outbreak to levels seen as recently as June, when Victoria and the rest of Australia reported single or double-digit daily infections.
“We have learned over time that the time between introducing a measure and seeing its effect is at least two weeks and sometimes longer than that,” Kelly told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.
Kentucky reports record new cases for the state
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear reported 979 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, a daily record that he said should be a “wake-up call” for the state’s citizens to abide by mask and social distancing restrictions to slow the spread of the virus, AP reports.
The Democratic governor announced in a news release that there were 979 new cases reported Sunday, including 30 involving children 5 years old or younger.
Beshear said there were at least 23,161 coronavirus cases in Kentucky as of 4pm, including the new cases reported on Sunday. The state’s public health commissioner said efforts would be made to confirm the accuracy of the results with some of the laboratories that submitted them.
Beshear also reported three new deaths, raising the total to 670 Kentuckians lost to the virus.
France decrees masks must be worn indoors
People in France will risk a fine of €135 ($154) starting Monday for failure to comply with a new decree to wear a mask in public places indoors, the government announced, AFP reports.
As officials noted signs of an uptick in virus circulation, Prime Minister Jean Castex on Thursday said masks will become compulsory in enclosed public spaces from next week in a bid to prevent a second wave of coronavirus infections.
Masks are already required on public transport, punishable with a fine of the same amount, in a country that has lost over 30,150 people to the epidemic.
A sign reminding the public about wearing protective masks in Marseille, France, 18 Jul 2020. Photograph: Gerard Bottino/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock
On Saturday, the health minister said the new obligation will enter into force on Monday and will apply to shops and supermarkets, covered fresh produce markets, banks and other establishments that receive members of the public.
And on Sunday, the health department announced contraventions can be punished with a fine of up to €135 – almost double the price of a monthly Paris public transport pass.
For people working in communal offices, the government has said employers will have to judge the need for mask-wearing on a case-by-case basis.
France’s public health service noted over the weekend that the so-called “R” number indicating the viral transmission rate has grown to over one, meaning that every infected person infects about 1.2 people in turn.
According to the latest official data, released Wednesday, France had 119 new coronavirus patients hospitalised in 24 hours, down from a high of 4,281 people hospitalised in one day in April.
The United Nations has made an urgent appeal for US$283 million to help Sudan tackle the coronavirus pandemic and its economic consequences, as millions in the country face hunger.
An official said the pandemic had worsened an economic crisis, hitting purchasing power, while movement restrictions had restricted people’s access to food, healthcare and basic services.
South Africa deaths pass 5,000
South Africa’s death toll from coronavirus has passed the 5,000 mark, according to official figures released on Sunday by the continent’s hardest hit country, AFP reports.
South Africa registered 85 new deaths from the virus in the previous 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 5,033. A total of 13,449 new infections were also officially diagnosed, taking the number to 364,328, figures released by the health ministry showed.
This arial picture taken on 19 July 2020 shows a row of freshly dug graves at a coronavirus section of a cemetery in Johannesburg, South Africa. Photograph: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
Minister of Health Zweli Mkhiz urged citizens to respect recommended hygiene measures. “As government, we have mobilised every resource…. But government cannot manage this unilaterally,” he said in a statement.
“We are extremely concerned that fatigue seems to have set in and South Africans are letting down their guard at a time when the spread of infection is surging.
“We see poor or no social distancing in communities. Masks are abandoned or not worn properly,” he said.
“This will directly influence the rise in numbers in the next two weeks. Our ability to break the cycle of infections depends on our willingness to remain focused and disciplined and take non pharmaceutical interventions seriously,” the minister said.
The peak of the pandemic in South Africa is expected over the next few weeks. Authorities imposed a strict lockdown in late March, but the measures have been progressively eased to avoid economic collapse.
Hong Kong makes masks mandatory indoors
As Hong Kong confirmed a record 108 new cases, on Sunday, 83 of which are locally transmitted, leader Carrie Lam introduced a series of new restrictions, including the mandatory wearing masks while indoors in public spaces.
Lam also ordered civil servants to work from home starting today, and advised schools to give students their university entrance exam results online, the South China Morning Post reports.
On restaurants:
The 6pm to 5am ban on dine-in services at restaurants and the rule limiting tables to only four people would be extended for a week to July 28. The closure of bars and 12 other types of premises, including gyms and karaoke lounges, would also be extended to the same date.
Lam said the government had also considered banning dine-in services during breakfast and lunch, but decided against it because many people needed to eat out.
Hong Kong was held up months ago as a model for its success in keeping down Covid-19 cases in the crowded city-state of 7.5 million people, but its caseload – although still low by European and American standards – had grown by a third in the past fortnight to nearly 1,800.
Trump says Fauci ‘alarmist’
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Amanda Holpuch
In an extraordinary interview with Fox News on Sunday, US President Donald Trump called White House expert Dr Anthony Fauci “an alarmist” and when asked about the country’s daily coronavirus death toll of around 1,000, said: “It is what it is.”
The interview – during which Trump also had an argument about whether identifying an elephant was strong evidence of mental stability – was especially combative when it touched on Covid-19, which has infected 3.7 million and killed more than 140,000 people in the US.
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace repeatedly pressed Trump about the death toll, which the president attempted to deflect by pointing to mortality rates in other countries and saying the US had “one of the lowest in the world”.
“That’s not true, sir,” Wallace said, correctly. The argument continued, and Trump asked his press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, to “please bring me the mortality rate”.
“You have the numbers, please?” Trump asked. “Because I hear we have the best mortality rate. Number, number one low mortality rate.”
Waving a paper, Trump said: “I hope you show this on air, because it shows what fake news is about.”
“I don’t think I’m fake news,” Wallace said.
Wallace then showed a montage of Trump’s comments minimizing Covid-19, by saying it will “disappear” at some point.
“I’ll be right eventually,” Trump said. “It is going to disappear. I’ll say it again, it’s going to disappear and I’ll be right.”
Wallace asked if Trump’s past comments about coronavirus disappearing, which have not been borne out, discredited him.
“I don’t think so, you know why? Because I’ve been right probably more than anybody else.”
Trump went on to say an increase in testing is why the US has such a high number of cases. It is not.
Updated
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coronavirus pandemic coverage.
My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest news from around the world for the next few hours.
As always, it would be great to hear from you – send tips, questions, suggestions and briefcases full of unmarked bills to me on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: [email protected].
US President Donald Trump has called the top US infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, “an alarmist” in a Fox news interview.
The coronavirus situation in Hong Kong is “really critical”, with a record 100 new infections recorded on Sunday, the territory’s leader, Carrie Lam, said.
Hong Kong’s case load has grown by a third in the past fortnight to nearly 1,800. Lam has shuttered bars, gyms and nightclubs in the past week and on Sunday announced new guidelines including mandatory mask-wearing indoors.
“I think the situation is really critical and there is no sign the situation is being brought under control,” she told reporters.
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- A record 100 new cases were confirmed in Hong Kong, the territory’s leader said on Sunday, as she tightened social distancing measures to tackle the sudden rise in number of infections. While the city has had initially impressive success in tackling the disease, all but ending local transmissions by late June, infections have spiked in the last two weeks once more and doctors fear the new outbreak is now spreading undetected in the densely packed territory of 7.5 million people.
- The United Nations has made an urgent appeal for $283m to help Sudan tackle the coronavirus pandemic and its economic consequences, as millions in the country face hunger. An official said the pandemic had worsened an economic crisis, hitting purchasing power, while movement restrictions had restricted people’s access to food, healthcare and basic services.
- France to issue €135 fines to people flouting new mask rules. The French government has announced that it will issue a €135-euro (£122) fine to people who flout its decree to wear a mask in indoor public spaces.Amid signs of an uptick in virus circulation, prime minister, Jean Castex, on Thursday said masks will become compulsory in enclosed public spaces from Monday in a bid to prevent a second wave of coronavirus infections.
- Donald Trump is seeking to block billions of dollars in funding for coronavirus testing and contact tracing efforts as cases spike across the US, where around 70,000 people are testing positive each day. White House opposition to spending proposed by Senate Republicans has sparked frustrations in his own party, according to the Washington Post, the New York Times and other media outlets.
- NFL stars attack NFL for having ‘no clear plan’ over Covid-19. Some of the NFL’s biggest names took to social media on Sunday to express their concerns and anger over the lack of Covid-19 safety protocols as teams prepare to open training camps this week.Super Bowl winning quarterbacks Drew Brees, Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson along with Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt were among those expressing their frustration at the NFL ignoring advice from its own medical experts.
- The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, has insisted he can avoid imposing another England-wide lockdown this winter, describing it as a “nuclear deterrent” that he hopes never to use. Despite chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance saying “national measures” might be necessary if there were fresh waves of the virus in the coming months, the prime minister said he “certainly” did not want to have to order the public to “stay at home” again.
- Authorities in Australia are stepping up their battle against coronavirus with the second biggest city of Melbourne announcing the introduction of mandatory face coverings from Wednesday when leaving the house. The premier of the Australian state of Victoria said people in Melbourne, and the adjacent shire of Mitchell to its north, would have to wear a mask or a face covering from 11.59pm on Wednesday.
