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HEALTH-VIRUS-WORLD FACTS
Coronavirus: latest global developments
PARIS, Aug 13, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Here are the latest developments in
the coronavirus crisis:
– More than 750,000 dead –
The pandemic has killed at least 750,003 people worldwide since
surfacing in China late last year, according to a tally from official
sources compiled by AFP at 1210 GMT on Thursday.
At least 20.6 million cases have been registered in 196 countries
and territories.
The United States has recorded the most deaths with 166,038,
followed by Brazil with 104,201, Mexico with 54,666 and India with
47,033.
– Testing on entry –
Italy imposes mandatory testing for all travellers arriving from
Croatia, Greece, Malta and Spain, and bans all visitors from Colombia,
in a bid to rein in new infections.
Travellers arriving at an airport, port or border crossing can
choose from a number of options, including rapid tests on the spot, or
the presentation of a certificate obtained within the last 72 hours
which shows they are COVID-19 free.
They can also choose to undergo a test within two days of entering
Italy, but will have to stay in isolation until the results arrive.
– New Zealand seeks source –
New Zealand rushes to track the source of a sudden return of the
virus as the number of new cases in Auckland increases to 17, raising
the prospect that a three-day lockdown imposed on the country’s
biggest city will be extended.
– No smoking –
A ban on removing masks to smoke on streets and restaurant terraces
when social-distancing cannot be guaranteed comes into effect in
Spain’s northwestern region of Galicia, with other areas mulling
similar restrictions.
– First Greek island camp case –
Greece reports its first infection in its Vial asylum seeker camp,
on the island of Chios. Some 3,800 people live inside the camp, over
three times nominal capacity.
Several non-fatal cases have surfaced in Greek camps on the
mainland but this is the first case involving an island camp, which
suffer from the worst overcrowding.
– Big drop in Australia –
Australia’s virus-hit Victoria state reports a major drop in new
cases, but officials warn against complacency amid a “worrying” spread
of the disease in regional areas outside Melbourne.
– Duterte skips vaccine trial –
The Philippines will begin large-scale human testing of Russia’s
vaccine in October but President Rodrigo Duterte will not receive the
inoculation until regulators guarantee its safety, his spokesman says,
after the leader had previously offered himself up as a guinea pig.
– German losses –
The world’s largest tour operator TUI says it slumped to a huge
loss in the third quarter. The German tourism giant, which has already
announced job cuts and store closures, posts a bottom-line net loss of
1.42 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in the period from April to June.
Germany’s beleaguered industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp, a
steel-to-submarines group, says its losses widened in the same period.
Already struggling before the pandemic hit, the group says it booked a
net loss of 678 million euros ($800 million) in April to June.
– Djokovic to play US Open –
Tennis men’s world number one Novak Djokovic confirms he will play
at the US Open, ending speculation about his presence at the first
Grand Slam tournament since the restart.
BSS/AFP/MRU/1855hrs