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HEALTH-VIRUS-WORLD FACTS
Coronavirus: latest global developments
PARIS, July 12, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Here are the latest developments in
the coronavirus crisis:
– Trump wears mask –
US President Donald Trump wears a face mask in public for the first
time, donning a dark mask with the presidential seal as he walks
through the corridors of Walter Reed military hospital outside
Washington to meet wounded veterans.
“I think when you’re in a hospital, especially in that particular
setting, where you’re talking to a lot of soldiers and people that, in
some cases, just got off the operating tables, I think it’s a great
thing to wear a mask,” Trump tells reporters.
– More than 565,000 deaths –
The pandemic has killed at least 565,363 people worldwide since it
surfaced in China late last year, according to an AFP tally at 1100
GMT on Sunday based on official sources.
The United States is the hardest-hit country with 134,815 deaths.
It is followed by Brazil with 71,469, Britain with 44,798, Italy with
34,945 and Mexico with 34,730 fatalities.
– Sharp rise of virus cases –
The pandemic has been accelerating sharply since the start of July,
according to a count carried out by AFP from official sources.
The three biggest daily worldwide increases in new cases were seen
on Saturday (more than 230,000), Friday (more than 225,000) and
Thursday (nearly 220,000).
The number of declared cases worldwide — now at nearly 13 million
— has doubled in just a month and a half.
– Trouble in Bollywood –
Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai has tested positive for the
virus, a Mumbai city authority official tells AFP, just a day after
her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan says he was in hospital with the
infectious disease.
– ‘Tragic’ resurgence in Iran –
Iran’s supreme leader calls the resurgence of the virus in the
country “truly tragic” and urges all citizens to help stem what has
been the region’s deadliest outbreak.
– Hungary gets tough on travel –
Hungary’s government says it is barring travel from Africa, most of
Asia apart from China and Japan, and restricting entry from several
European countries after worldwide spikes in cases.
– Indonesia outbreak –
Nearly 1,300 people at the Indonesian Army Officer Candidate School
in the country’s most populated province of West Java test positive
and are quarantined, with 30 initially hospitalised with mild
symptoms, an official says.
Of the 1,280 confirmed infections, 991 are cadets and the rest are
staff and their family members. Most have no symptoms.
BSS/AFP/MRU/1956hrs