Last updated: 26/07/2020 18:59
Just as European summer tourism was reviving, Spain has been hit by a rise in coronavirus cases and several European countries are taking steps to stop their citizens bringing the illness home, including Britain, which imposed a 14-day quarantine on travellers from Spain this weekend.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, click here.
EUROPE
* Spain is safe for tourists and Spaniards, the government insisted on Sunday after Britain abruptly imposed a two-week quarantine on travellers returning from there, a decision that filled holidaymakers with dismay.
* Spain’s COVID-19 death toll could be nearly 60% higher than the official figure of 28,432, according to an investigation by El Pais newspaper published on Sunday.
AMERICAS
* President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans in the Senate are set to unveil a $1 trillion U.S. coronavirus relief bill on Monday that includes reduced federal unemployment benefits, with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin saying he believes they can work with Democrats to move quickly on the legislation.
* Coronavirus cases in Latin America for the first time have surpassed the combined infections in the United States and Canada, a Reuters tally showed on Sunday, amid a surge of infections in Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Argentina.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Australia reached a grim milestone, recording its highest ever daily tally of coronavirus deaths, as authorities in Victoria state battled scores of clusters of infection and intensified efforts to trace their contacts.
* Vietnam reintroduced social distancing measures in the central city of Danang after the country reported four locally transmitted coronavirus cases over the past two days.
* Taiwan resumed an island-hopping ocean cruise on Sunday, joining a handful of places in the world to restart voyages after the pandemic brought the industry to a virtual standstill.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged people on Saturday to observe health protocols and practice social distancing during upcoming Muslim festivities, as a health official said there had been a surge in coronavirus infections in a major holy city.
* The number of people to test positive for coronavirus in Israel topped 60,000 on Saturday as the government struggles to contain a resurgence in infection rates.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Moderna Inc said on Sunday it has received an additional $472 million from the U.S. government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to support development of its coronavirus vaccine.
* People who are obese or overweight are at increased risk of death or severe illness from COVID-19, a report by Public Health England (PHE) said on Saturday as the government prepares to introduce measures to confront the problem.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* A pick-up in leisure trips and easing European travel restrictions are driving demand for business jet flights this summer, fueling cautious hopes for a rebound in an industry hit hard by the pandemic, executives and forecasters said.
* South Africa has doubled to six months the term of loans to small and medium-sized businesses to help them survive the COVID-19 recession and made other changes to make the credit easier to access, the treasury said on Sunday.
(Reuters)
Pictured: A health worker gets the temperature of residents at the area of a newly found coronavirus infected patient in Da Nang city, Vietnam July 26, 2020. Quoc Dung/VNA via REUTERS
