ZCZC
BFF-39
HEALTH-VIRUS-WORLD
Coronavirus: latest global developments
PARIS, Sept 7, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Here are the latest developments in the
coronavirus crisis:
– India into second place –
India overtakes Brazil as the country with the second highest number of
confirmed coronavirus cases, even as key metro train lines re-open as part of
efforts to boost its battered economy.
Infections have now risen above 4.2 million, surpassing Brazil’s total of
4.12 million and making India’s tally the second-highest behind the United
States’ 6.25 million.
– Nearly 890,000 dead –
The pandemic has killed at least 889,498 people worldwide since surfacing
in China late last year, according to an AFP count at 1100 GMT on Monday
based on official sources.
The countries which have registered the most new deaths in their latest
tolls are Ecuador with 3,800, India (1,016) and Brazil (447).
Europe is also seeing a spike in cases, notably in Britain, France and
Spain.
– Tokyo Olympics ‘will take place’ –
The postponed Olympics will go ahead next year regardless of the
coronavirus pandemic, IOC vice president John Coates tells AFP in an
exclusive interview, calling them the “Games that conquered Covid”.
“It will take place with or without Covid. The Games will start on July 23
next year,” says Coates, who heads the International Olympic Committee’s
Coordination Commission for the Tokyo Games.
– China shows off vaccines –
China puts its homegrown coronavirus vaccines on display for the first
time at a Beijing trade fair this week.
The vaccine candidates produced by Chinese companies Sinovac Biotech and
Sinopharm are seeking approval after all-important phase 3 trials as early as
year-end.
– Hong Kongers shun virus tests –
Only 1.15 million people in Hong Kong have signed up since mass testing
began last Tuesday out of a city population of some 7.5 million, amid
wariness at the China-backed scheme.
That figure is well below the 4-5 million leading health experts say will
be needed for a mass testing scheme to be effective at finding and stopping
hidden transmission chains.
– Morocco locks down Casablanca –
Morocco imposes a lockdown on its commercial capital Casablanca and shuts
its schools, the day they were supposed to reopen after summer, in a bid to
stop the spread of Covid-19.
The new measures, which include restrictions on movement and a night-time
curfew, will be in place for two weeks, in the city which has accounted for
42 percent of a record 2,234 new infections on Sunday.
– Emirates refunds $1.4 billion –
Emirates, the largest airline in the Middle East, says it has so far
returned $1.4 billion in refunds to customers amid sharply reduced global
travel due to the pandemic.
It said the refunds represented 90 percent of its backlog.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1758 hrs