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Sunday 12 July 2020 20:31
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Face coverings will not be made mandatory in shops, Michael Gove said – two days after Boris Johnson hinted that England could copy Scotland by introducing the rule.
The cabinet office minister also stepped up calls for people to return to work following reports that the government was set to ease restrictions on using public transport.
It came as a Herefordshire farm went into lockdown after 73 vegetable pickers tested positive for coronavirus. The 200 staff are being kept in isolation in mobile homes at the site.
Meanwhile Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would be prepared to impose a border quarantine with England to prevent the spread of the virus if necessary, though there were no “immediate plans” to do so.
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US surgeon general Jerome Adams has said the Trump administration is “trying to correct” its guidance from earlier in the coronavirus epidemic after saying the wearing of face coverings was not necessary.
With virus cases surging and many states and cities now issuing orders to wear masks in public, Dr Adams said he and other administration officials were wrong back in March. But he insists they were going with the scientific knowledge at the time, which suggested that people with Covid-19 who showed no symptoms were not likely to spread the virus.
Dr Adams said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that “once upon a time, we prescribed cigarettes for asthmatics and leeches and cocaine and heroin for people as medical treatments. When we learned better, we do better.”
Dr Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University, told “Fox News Sunday” that he would have liked to have seen administration officials wear masks sooner. He says it should not be viewed as a “personal choice” but a public health imperative.
Trump was seen wearing a mask in public for the first time Saturday during a visit to a military hospital.
A Florida epidemiologist has said more testing should be carried out after the region recorded that largest spike of any US state since the beginning of the pandemic.
“I still think we need to increase our testing a little bit more,” said University of Florida epidemiologist Dr. Cindy Prins, adding that the state and local health departments should ramp up their contact tracing.
Dr Prins said that she’s still concerned about large crowds, gyms and some restaurants as being places of mass transmission. Reports of illegal clubs and raves in South Florida are also a worry, she said.
“I really do think we could control this, and it’s the human element that is so critical. It should be an effort of our country. We should be pulling together when we’re in a crisis, and we’re definitely not doing it,” she said.
“I know people want to live their lives. There have been a lot of other times, people have made those sacrifices in order to benefit our society. It’s almost like a war effort. That’s what we need right now.”
Mexico’s death toll from the coronavirus pandemic is poised to overtake Italy’s and shoot above 35,000, with the Latin American nation set to post the world’s fourth highest deaths total, according to Reuters data.
Mexico on Saturday recorded539 additional fatalities to bring its coronavirus toll to 34,730, with 295,268 confirmed cases. Italy has recorded 34,945 deaths and 242,827 cases.
While Italy appears to have tamed the virus, the pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down in Mexico, where the government has faced criticism for reopening its economy too soon.
Mexican authorities have gradually raised the projections of total fatalities and as recently as June forecast up to 35,000 deaths through October. In early May, the estimate was 6,000.
The coronavirus death toll per million residents in Mexico, whose population numbers about 120 million, is the 16th highest in the world, according to data by research firm Statista.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is attempting to reassure the public over the risk of sending kids back to school despite surging coronavirus cases in many parts of the US.
Speaking in Sunday TV interviews, Ms DeVos stressed that children attending school in the autumn should be the rule, not the exception.
She asserted that “there’s nothing in the data that suggests that kids being in school is in any way dangerous.”
But she was contradicted by public health experts who said the virus can still be dangerous to the young, even if the risk is lower. Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University, said on “Fox News Sunday” that science is also unclear on how much children can spread the disease to more vulnerable adults.
Ms DeVos said the Trump administration is looking at “all the options” for pulling funding from schools if they don’t provide full-time in person learning, calling American investment in education “a promise to students and their families.”
She described Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance for keeping schools safe, such as face coverings and social distancing, as “guidelines” meant to be flexible.
The National Farmer’s Union (NFU) has reached out to reassure the public after around 200 workers at a farm in Herefordshire were quarantined following an outbreak of Covid-19.
A spokeswoman for the union said: “The industry takes this issue incredibly seriously and everything is being done to keep workers safe; their health and safety remains the priority.
“Across the sector there have been significant investments this season; from the use of additional safety equipment and PPE, regularly testing temperatures, and following government guidance created specifically for seasonal workers.”
Calabria, which in recent days had been registering a couple or even no new daily coronavirus infections, had 28 new cases on Sunday, stemming from as many infections among nearly 800 migrants rescued from human traffickers’ boats and brought to that region.
The region’s governor Jole Santelli called on the national government to safeguard the local population by requisitioning navy boats going forward and keeping rescued migrants offshore until they can be tested for coronavirus infection.
In the Emilia-Romagna region, 71 cases were registered on Sunday, according to the Health Ministry, a sizable jump from recent days, reflecting a hot spot of infections at a major courier service in Bologna.
In contrast, Lombardy, which during the pandemic saw daily new cases loads far over 1,000, registered 77 cases on Sunday.
With the latest 234 cases nationwide, Italy now has 243,061 known cases. With nine deaths tallied on Sunday, the overall confirmed death toll is 34,954. Authorities say the actual number of cases and deaths is certainly higher.
No new coronavirus-related death have been reported in Ireland on Sunday, leaving the total at 1,746, the National Public Health Emergency Team said.
As of midnight on 11 July, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) had been notified of 17 confirmed cases of Covid-19.
There is now a total of 25,628 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.
A Lebanese waste management company is quarantining 133 Syrian workers who tested positive for the coronavirus, the company manager said on Sunday, as the country recorded a new daily high for infections.
The health ministry said a total of 166 new cases had been confirmed in the last 24 hours.
Lebanon has recorded more than 2,000 infections and 36 deaths from the coronavirus since February.
“The number will remain high this week,” Health Minister Hamad Hassan said. “To reassure people, the source is known,” he added in comments to national broadcaster LBC.
The roar of fans could be heard at a football game for the first time since the coronavirus shut down sports and chased away spectators as Paris Saint-Germain played Le Havre in a French friendly.
Only 5,000 people were allowed inside Le Havre’s 25,000-seat Stade Oceane to see the French League 2 club take on PSG’s star-studded squad. Upper tiers of seating were empty.
Spectators had to wear face masks to get into the arena, although many then took them off once settled in their seats. Families and friends sat together in groups but groups stayed separated.
Ball carriers wore masks and gloves. Loudspeakers broadcast appeals for social distancing. Pitch-side photographers were made to step with their shoes into trays of disinfectant.
To slow the spread of the coronavirus, governments issued lockdowns to keep people at home. They curtailed activities that affected services like rubbish collection. They tried to shield hospitals from a surge of patients.
But the cascading effects of these restrictions also are hampering efforts to cope with seasonal outbreaks of dengue fever, an incurable, mosquito-borne disease that is also known as “breakbone fever” for its severely painful symptoms.
Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan is in a stable condition in an isolation unit with mild symptoms of coronavirus, the Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital in Mumbai has confirmed..
His son, Abhishek Bachchan, 44, daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, also a Bollywood actress, and their 8-year-old daughter have also tested positive, according to Maharashtra state Health Minister Rajesh Tope.
With an unparalleled standing in the world of Bollywood, Mr Bachchan has been a mainstay of the nation’s cinematic output since 1969 – appearing in around 200 films.
Florida has reported the largest single-day increase in positive coronavirus cases in any one US state since the beginning of the pandemic.
According to state Department of Health statistics, 15,299 people tested positive, for a total of 269,811 cases.
California had the previous record of daily positive cases — 11,694, four days ago. New York had 11,571 on 15 April.
More below:
Heathrow Airport relies on one runway until October
After decades of insisting it needs three runways, Heathrow airport will make do with just one — with closure of the southern runway either partially or fully until October.
A “Notice to Airmen” (Notam) has been issued to pilots and airlines warning that the runway, known as 09R/27L, will close at one minute to midnight on Sunday 12 July until the same time on 30 September.
The UK coronavirus death toll has risen by 21 to 44,798, according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
A further 650 cases have been confirmed, bringing the total to 289,603.
The official statistics also reveal that 207,387 tests were sent out or made available, and 134,890 were processed, in the 24 hours up to 9am today.
A pilot who was Vietnam’s most critical Covid-19 patient has returned home to Scotland.
Stephen Cameron flew out of Ho Chi Minh City’s airport on Saturday and landed in Scotland shortly before midday on Sunday, Glasgow Airport said.
The 42-year-old was met by a waiting ambulance and is now recovering at University Hospital Wishaw in North Lanarkshire.
Mr Cameron was working for national carrier Vietnam Airlines when he tested positive for the coronavirus in March and went on to become critically ill, spending 65 days on life support.
In a video released by Cho Ray Hospital, where he was last treated, Mr Cameron said: “I’m overwhelmed by the generosity of the Vietnamese people, the dedication and professionalism of the doctors and nurses.”
Record day for new cases in Florida
Florida reported a record increase of more than 15,000 new cases of COVID-19 in a single day on Sunday as the growing outbreak forces state authorities to close some businesses and beaches.
If Florida were a country, it would rank fourth in the world for the most new cases a day behind the United States, Brazil and India, reports Reuters.
Its daily increases have already surpassed the highest daily tally reported by any European country during the height of the pandemic there. Florida has also broken New York State’s record of 12,847 new cases on 10 April when it was the epicentre of the US outbreak.
The mayor of the Mediterranean resort of Nice has announced that face masks will be mandatory at all of the city’s events following criticism of crowds dancing at a DJ’s outdoor set last night.
Many of the partygoers didn’t wear masks or stay apart, fuelling fears of a second wave of infections after the relaxation of the lockdown.
Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi defended the decision to allow the concert, tweeting that efforts were made to limit the crowd-size to 5,000 people and ask them to respect social distancing guidelines.
He added: “We regret that these instructions were not sufficiently respected.”
The mayor asked the government to make the wearing of masks obligatory at crowded events, including those outdoors and said masks would now be required “for all our events” in Nice.
A member of the White House coronavirus task force said the situation “is not out of control” despite a surge in cases and deaths across the country.
Brett Giroir, assistant secretary at the Health and Human Services Department, said it’s going to take “a lot of effort and everybody’s going to have to do their part” to combat the pandemic.
He said that “we have to have people wearing a mask in public. It’s absolutely essential.”
When Mr Giroir was asked about whether states that are seeing a spike in cases should consider more stringent lockdowns, he said: “Everything should be on the table.”
Here’s our developing story on the coronavirus outbreak at Rook Row Farm in Herefordshire.
The council is arranging deliveries of food and other supplies to the 200 workers in quarantine at the site.
Karen Wright, director of public health for Herefordshire Council, said the spread of infection had been controlled due to “prompt testing”.
“While Herefordshire is the first to experience an outbreak of this kind, this is not unexpected,” she said in a statement.
“Our priority is to protect the health and well-being of all residents in our community.
“Prompt testing on the farm has allowed us to understand transmission and control the spread of infection.
“We continue to support the farm management, their workers – who form an important part of our local economy, and the local community through this challenging time.”
On the website of vegetable producer AS Green and Co, which is based on the farm in the village of Mathon, near Worcester, it says workers are expected to share accommodation at Rook Row Farm, while there is a recreational building with a pool table, dart board and TV for all employees.
The farm received more than 300 applications from workers as part of the government’s “Pick for Britain” campaign to prevent crops rotting in the ground during the pandemic.
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