PARIS: Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:
Death toll tops 800,000
The pandemic has killed at least 800,004 people worldwide since surfacing in China late last year, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP on Saturday.
More than 23 million cases have been registered in 196 countries and territories.
The United States has recorded the most deaths with 175,416, followed by Brazil with 113,358, Mexico with 59,610, India with 55,794 and Britain with 41,403 fatalities.
Spikes in Italy and Germany
Italy records more than 1,000 new cases over 24 hours, the country’s worst daily figure since its lockdown was lifted in May.
Rome’s health official Alessio D’Amato says that of the 215 new cases registered in the capital, “61 percent are linked to people returning from vacation”.
The number of new daily infections in Germany tops 2,000, a high not seen since the end of April, with authorities suggesting large numbers of returning tourists may be bringing the virus with them while other experts highlight a big increase in testing.
Northern Argentina surge
There has been an explosion of cases in Argentina’s northern province of Jujuy, where 30 percent of nurses have been infected and doctors warn the health system is at risk of “collapse”.
Masks from 12 years old
The World Health Organisation recommends children over 12 years old now use masks in the same situations as adults as the use of face coverings helps stop the virus spread.
“(By) utilising the available tools to the maximum and hoping that we can have additional tools like vaccines, I think we can finish it in a shorter time than the 1918 flu,” says WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Reconfinement
After Spain records more than 8,000 new daily infections, the regional authorities in Madrid recommended the population in the areas most affected go into confinement.
In northwest England, tighter lockdown rules have been imposed in the cities of Oldham, Pendle and Blackburn, while Britain’s second-city of Birmingham has been made an “area of enhanced support” after a spike in cases. – AFP
