2 months ago
19 Keeping you up to date on the latest novel coronavirus (Covid-19) news from around the world.
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Letting virus 'run free' with eye to herd immunity 'unethical': WHO
The World Health Organisation chief warned Monday against suggestions by some to just allow Covid-19 to spread in the hope of achieving so-called herd immunity, saying this was "unethical".
"Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy for responding to an outbreak, let alone a pandemic," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press briefing.
"It is scientifically and ethically problematic," he said. "Allowing a dangerous virus that we don't fully understand to run free is simply unethical. It's not an option."
-AFP
Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:
New alert system for Britain
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to announce a new three-tiered alert system for coronavirus cases in England, which has the worst toll in Europe.
The new system will classify all areas as either "medium", "high" or "very high" risk, with Liverpool reportedly the only city placed in the top category, meaning its pubs and restaurants will have to close.
France mulls further restrictions
Prime Minister Jean Castex warns that French authorities could impose new local lockdowns in a bid to contain another surge in coronavirus cases
Asked about the chances of new stay-at-home orders and business closures, he says "nothing can be ruled out, given what we're seeing in our hospitals". But he adds that "it should be possible" to avoid a nationwide lockdown.
China to test whole city
All nine million people in the major Chinese port city of Qingdao will be tested within five days following a tiny outbreak of the coronavirus, health officials say.
The country where the virus first emerged has largely controlled the pandemic, in contrast to many parts of the world still afflicted by rolling lockdowns and high case numbers.
More than 37.5 million cases
At least 1 077 849 people have died of the coronavirus since it emerged in China late in 2019, according to an AFP tally on Monday based on official sources.
At least 37 575 650 cases have been officially registered worldwide. Of these, at least 25 963 400 are now considered recovered.
After the United States with 214 776 deaths, Brazil has reported 150 488, India 109 150, Mexico 83 781, and the United Kingdom 42 825.
Virus 'can survive 28 days'
The coronavirus can survive on items such as banknotes and mobile phones for up to 28 days, "significantly longer" than reported in previous studies, Australia's national science agency reveals.
The scientists found that at 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit), the virus was "extremely robust" on smooth surfaces.
Malaysia's new curbs
Malaysia announces sweeping new curbs around Kuala Lumpur and worst-hit Sabah state as it fights a new coronavirus surge.
Schools and places of worship will be closed, people will only be allowed to leave home for essential tasks like shopping, and all sports and other recreational activities will be banned.
-AFP
Trump resumes campaign with Florida rally 10 days after Covid-19 disclosure
President Donald Trump will try to put his bout with Covid-19 behind him when he returns to the campaign trail on Monday, beginning a three-week sprint to the 3 November US election with a rally in the battleground state of Florida.
The event at an airport in Sanford, Florida, will be Trump's first campaign rally since he disclosed on 2 October that he tested positive for Covid-19. Trump, who spent three nights in the hospital for treatment, said on Sunday he had fully recovered and was no longer infectious, but did not say directly whether he had tested negative for the coronavirus.
The Republican president, 74, is seeking to change the dynamics of a race that national opinion polls and some state polls show he is losing to Democratic challenger Joe Biden, 77.
For months, Trump had worked furiously to shift public attention away from the virus and his handling of the pandemic, which has infected nearly 7.7 million people in the United States, killed more than 214 000 and put millions out of work.
His own illness has put the spotlight squarely on his coronavirus response during the closing stretch of the race.
In a sign of fresh optimism, Biden heads on Monday to Ohio, a state Trump won by 8 percentage points in 2016 and almost certainly must carry again to win. It is Biden's second campaign trip in as many weeks to Ohio, which was once thought out of reach but where polls now show a tight race.
Trump's rally in Florida, and planned rallies in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Iowa on Wednesday and North Carolina on Thursday, will be watched closely to see whether the president has reshaped his campaign approach since contracting the virus.
Critics fault him for failing to encourage supporters at campaign events, and even White House staff, to wear protective masks and abide by social-distancing guidelines. At least 11 close Trump aides have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Standing alone on a White House balcony on Saturday, a maskless Trump urged hundreds of largely Black and Latino supporters to help get out the vote. Most in the crowd wore masks but ignored social-distancing guidelines.
Biden, who has said it is irresponsible for any candidate to hold events where attendees are not wearing masks or engaging in social distancing, lashed out at the president's approach.
"President Trump comes to Sanford today bringing nothing but reckless behavior, divisive rhetoric, and fear mongering," Biden, the Democratic former vice president said in a statement.
Florida up for grabs
Trump told Fox News in an interview on Sunday that he felt good and pointed to his physician's memo from Saturday saying he had taken a test showing he was no longer infectious.
"I passed the highest test, the highest standards, and I'm in great shape," Trump told "Sunday Morning Futures."
Trump also said, without producing evidence, that he was now immune, an assertion that drew a flag from Twitter for violating the social media platform's rules about misleading information related to Covid-19.
The scientific research has been inconclusive on how long people who have recovered from Covid-19 have antibodies and are protected from a second infection.
Most recent polls in Florida, where a Trump loss would dramatically narrow his path to re-election, show Biden with a small lead. Trump won Florida over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016 by just 1.2 percentage points, which helped propel him to the White House.
On his visit to Ohio, Biden will deliver a speech in Toledo meant to undermine what polls show is Trump's last greatest strength, the view among some voters that the former real estate entrepreneur is better on handling the economy.
Biden also will attend a get-out-the-vote event in Cincinnati, his campaign said.
Trump has pulled back his advertising in Ohio in recent days, while Biden has increased his, another sign of the opportunity he and his fellow Democrats see to make more states competitive than they initially imagined.
-REUTERS
WHO says 180-plus countries including China committed to vaccine effort
More than 180 countries have committed to participate in the World Health Organisation's (WHO) effort to finance Covid-19 vaccines to be distributed fairly to both rich and poor countries, the group's chief scientist said on Monday.
That figure, which WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan updated during a media call, is an increase from the 170 countries including China that were announced on Friday by the GAVI vaccine alliance, which is working with the WHO on the COVAX financing facility.
-REUTERS
More synchronised action needed to tackle Covid crisis - IMF's Georgieva
The international community needs to do more to tackle the economic fallout of the Covid-19 crisis, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.
"We are going to continue to push to do even more," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said during an online FT Africa summit.
"I would beg for also more grants for African countries. The World Bank has grant giving capacity. Perhaps you can do even more... and bilateral donors can do more in that regard."
She added the Fund was pushing to shift more of its existing Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to countries that needed support most, and was "very committed" to finding "a way forward" for countries like Zambia now needing to restructure their debts.
She seemed reluctant, however, to use gold reserves, and suggested that a larger allocation of SDR was not on the cards for now.
-REUTERS
UK reports 13 972 new daily Covid cases
The daily number of new Covid-19 cases in the United Kingdom rose to 13 972 on Monday, compared with 12 872 the day before, government data showed.
The daily number of deaths was 50, taking the total number of people who have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 in the United Kingdom to 42 875.
-REUTERS
Britain's Johnson says cannot take Covid-19 vaccine for granted
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday there were some hopeful signs that a vaccine would be secured for Covid-19 but he warned that the country must be realistic because it could not be taken for granted.
"There are some very hopeful signs not least from the Oxford AstraZeneca trials that are being conducted but as (the lawmaker asking the question) knows SARS took place 18 years ago, we still don't have a vaccine for SARS," he told parliament.
"I don't wish to depress him but we must be realistic about this, there is a good chance of a vaccine but it cannot be taken for granted."
-REUTERS
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