Record rise in Covid-19 cases around the globe | News24

A man wears a face mask as a preventive measure against the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Almost 40 countries have reported record single-day increases in coronavirus infections over the past week, around double the number that did so the previous week, according to a Reuters tally showing a pick-up in the pandemic in every region of the world.

Europe

• Germany may introduce compulsory coronavirus testing for holidaymakers returning from high-risk destinations after the number of new infections in the country hit a two-month high, the health minister said.

• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been criticised for acting too slowly in the pandemic, said on Friday there may have been things he could have done differently.

• Visitors to Greece arriving by air from Bulgaria and Romania will need to provide proof they have tested negative for coronavirus to gain entry, Greece’s Civil Protection authority said.

Americas

• The United States recorded more than 1 000 Covid-19 deaths for the fourth straight day on Friday but a top White House advisor on the pandemic said she saw signs that the worst could be over in hard-hit southern and western states.

• Storm Hanna, the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic season, was forecast to make landfall on the Texas coast on Saturday, threatening one of the nation’s Covid-19 hot spots with storm surge and flooding.

• Mexico City’s mayor 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.

Asia-Pacific

• Vietnam was back on high alert for the coronavirus after medical officials in the central city of Danang detected the country’s first locally transmitted case for three months.

• South Korea reported 113 new cases on Saturday, the largest single-day increase in almost four months, and officials warned the upward trajectory could continue as people carrying the disease enter the country from abroad.

• Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong named a largely unchanged cabinet following an election win this month, and flagged a possible delay, due to the pandemic, of his plan to step down.

Middle East and Africa

• Three members of the South African women’s cricket team were tested positive for the coronavirus ahead of assembling for a training camp to prepare a proposed tour of England.

• A senior Lebanese official said he found out during a lunch with visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian that he had tested positive for Covid-19.

Medical developments

• Young, previously healthy adults can take weeks to fully recover from even a mild Covid-19 infection, with about a fifth of patients under 35 years reporting not returning to their usual state of health up to 21 days after testing positive, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

• German biotech CureVac said on Friday it had filed for an initial public offering in the United States as it races to develop a vaccine for Covid-19.

Economic fallout

• Euro zone business activity grew in July for the first time since the pandemic hit, as more parts of the economy that had been locked down 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 pandemic.