Last updated: 25/07/2020 00:42
The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases on Friday, with the total rising by 284,196 in 24 hours, even as U.S. federal health and education officials stressed the need for children to get back into the classroom despite parents’ fears.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread, click here.
EUROPE
* With the summer vacation season in full swing, Germany, France and Norway are taking measures to try to stop people returning from holidays abroad from spreading the coronavirus.
* France advised its citizens on Friday not to travel to Catalonia in neighbouring Spain following a spike in cases of COVID-19 in the region.
* In Scotland, 54% of people now favour independence, according to a recent poll, driven by a perception that their semi-autonomous government has handled the outbreak better than the UK government.
AMERICAS
* Canadian officials urged youth who are going to social gatherings for the first time in months, and subsequently driving up the country’s average daily case count, to continue to take precautions.
* The mayor of Mexico City warned of a possible resurgence of cases in the sprawling capital in the coming months, noting that hospitalizations have been on the rise in recent days.
* Coronavirus lockdowns for parts of the Chilean capital Santiago will be gradually lifted from Tuesday.
* Formula One scrapped all four of this season’s races in the Americas due to the COVID-19 pandemic on Friday and added three European rounds.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* A 103-year-old man has recovered from COVID-19 in Pakistan to become one of the oldest survivors of the disease in the world.
* Singapore will complete testing for COVID-19 cases among migrant workers living in dormitories by Aug. 7, about four months after authorities started quarantining.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Senegal is strengthening its coronavirus testing capacity to enable travellers to get tested before leaving the country.
* Three members of the South African women’s cricket team were tested positive for the COVID-19 virus ahead of assembling for a training camp to prepare of a proposed tour of England.
* A senior Lebanese official said he discovered he had tested positive for COVID-19 during a lunch with visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* As U.S. outbreaks surge, a new government study shows that nearly 40% of people who have died with COVID-19 had diabetes.
* Cipla Ltd has received Indian regulatory approval to sell anti-viral drug favipiravir to treat COVID-19 in the world’s third worst-hit nation.
* Human trials of Russia’s second potential coronavirus vaccine, developed by the Siberian Vector institute, will begin on July 27.
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
* Euro zone business activity grew in July for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit, as more parts of the economy that were locked down to curtail its spread reopened.
* China’s economy is expected to recover steadily in the rest of the year, boosted by stimulus measures to reverse the damage from the coronavirus crisis.
* Sales of new U.S. single-family homes raced to a near 13-year high in June amid record low interest rates and migration from urban centers to lower-density areas because of the pandemic.
(Reuters)
Pictured: A fan buys food at Artie’s Famous Sausage cart outside Fenway Park during the season opening MLB baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox, played before an empty ballpark because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., July 24, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
