Global coronavirus deaths top 750,000: Live updates

Germany optimistic about vaccine; UN warns virus could worsen conflicts; Brazil signs deal to make Russian vaccine.

Relatives react near the coffin of a man, during his funeral at the local cemetery, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues in Mexico City, Mexico, August 6, 2020. REUTERS/Henry Romer
  • Worldwide coronavirus cases have surpassed 20.7 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 12.8 million have recovered, and more than 751,000 have died. 

  • German Health Minister Jens Spahn says he expects that there will be a COVID-19 vaccine in the coming months.

  • United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warns that the coronavirus pandemic not only threatens gains in fighting poverty and building peace, but also risks exacerbating old conflicts and generating new ones. 

  • President Vladimir Putin says Russia has developed the first vaccine offering “sustainable immunity” against the coronavirus, but the World Health Organization says it does not have enough information to evaluate it.

Here are the latest updates:

Thursday, August 13

23:43 GMT – Brazil’s death toll tops 105,000

Brazil reported 60,091 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 1,261 deaths from the disease caused by the virus in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said.

Brazil has registered 3,224,876 cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll from COVID-19 has risen to 105,463, according to ministry data.

Brazil’s Parana state agrees to produce Russian vaccine (2:07)

23:22 GMT – Biden calls for nationwide mask mandate in US

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate in the United States, called for a nationwide protective mask mandate, citing health experts’ predictions that it could save 40,000 lives from coronavirus over the next three months.

“Wearing the mask is less about you contracting the virus,” Biden said. “It’s about preventing other people from getting sick.”

He added: “Every single American should be wearing a mask when they’re outside for the next three months at a minimum; every governor should mandate mandatory mask-wearing.”

20:31 GMT – US health official says vaccines unlikely to be approved before November

The potential COVID-19 vaccines backed by Operation Warp Speed – a programme of the administration of United States President Donald Trump – are unlikely to receive a green light from regulators any earlier than November or December of this year, given the time needed for a large-scale clinical trial, National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins said in a call with reporters.

Collins said he thinks that testing a vaccine in at least 10,000 people could potentially give enough evidence of safety and efficacy to clear it for wider use. 

19:53 GMT – Tennis’s Andreescu will not defend US Open title

Tennis player Bianca Andreescu said she will not defend her title at this month’s US Open in New York.

“The US Open victory last year has been the high point of my career this far and I will miss not being there,” said world number six Andreescu, who beat Serena Williams in last year’s US Open final.

“However, I realise that the unforeseen challenges, including the COVID pandemic, have compromised my ability to prepare and compete to the degree necessary to play at my highest level.”

19:32 GMT – EU wraps up talks to buy potential vaccine

The European Commission said it had concluded preliminary talks with United States pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson for an advance purchase deal of a potential COVID-19 vaccine the company is developing.

WHO COVID Debrief on global coronavirus vaccine efforts

The European Union’s executive arm said this could pave the way for the signing of a contract that would allow EU countries to buy the vaccines or donate to developing countries.

18:45 GMT – Kuwait to gradually return to normality 

The Kuwaiti cabinet said it will start implementing the fourth stage of the gradual go-to-normality plan starting from August 18. Some activities that were set to open during the fifth stage – including gyms, sport clubs, beauty salons and tailors – will now be open as a part of the fourth stage.

The cabinet also decided to keep the nationwide partial curfew and to resume football activity in the Gulf country without the presence of fans.

17:53 GMT – Number of cases in France at four-month high

Is the world facing a second wave of COVID-19? | Inside Story

France reported more than 2,500 new COVID-19 infections for the second day in a row – levels last seen in mid-April when the country was in the middle of one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns.

Despite the rise in cases, which could prompt the United Kingdom to remove France from its list of safe travel destinations, the number of people hospitalised due to the disease continued to fall, having dipped below 5,000 for the first time since mid-March on Wednesday.

Experts say this is because those infected include more young people, who are less likely to need hospital care.

17:05 GMT – Mexico’s energy minister tests positive 

Mexico’s Energy Minister Rocio Nahle said that she placed herself in isolation due to a COVID-19 infection, although she was not suffering symptoms of the virus.

“As soon as the viral load goes away, I will return to my normal activities,” she wrote on her Twitter account.

16:32 GMT – People should not fear spread of COVID-19 in food, packaging: WHO

The World Health Organization said it saw no evidence of coronavirus being spread by food or packaging.

“People should not fear food, or food packaging or processing or delivery of food,” WHO emergencies programme head Mike Ryan told a briefing in Geneva. “There is no evidence that food or the food chain is participating in transmission of this virus. And people should feel comfortable and safe.”

The comments were made after two cities in China said they had found traces of the coronavirus in imported food from Brazil and Ecuador, raising fears that contaminated food shipments might cause a new outbreak.

Will the coronavirus pandemic lead to a food crisis? | Counting the Cost

15:40 GMT – Premier League to begin September 12, no FA cup replays, no winter break

The new English Premier League season will begin on Saturday, September 12, the Football Association (FA) has confirmed.    

But there will be no winter league break in a season that will be five weeks shorter than usual.

To ease congestion in what is already a jammed schedule after the later than usual start due to the coronavirus, the FA announced that there will be no replays in this season’s FA Cup competition.     

The League Cup semi-finals will also be played over just one leg, while the first four rounds will be played in consecutive weeks from early September. The final matches of the season will be played on Sunday, May 23.

15:00 GMT – Global death toll from coronavirus surges past 750,000 

The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 750,000 people worldwide since it first emerged in China in December, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally. 

The global caseload has reached 20,666,156 while more than 12.8 million people have recovered. 

WHO COVID-19 Special Envoy on coronavirus and systemic inequality (3:54)

14:50 GMT – Two Spanish regions impose smoking ban to curb virus 

Spain’s Canary Islands said it will ban smoking outdoors when social distancing cannot be guaranteed to curb the coronavirus, a day after Galicia took a similar measure.

The smoking ban will come into effect on Friday along with the mandatory wearing of face masks in all public spaces, Canaries regional leader Angel Victor Torres said.

The Canary Islands, a tourism hotspot off northwest Africa, had been the only Spanish region where it was not obligatory to use face masks. Officials in regions including Madrid and Andalusia said they were considering similar smoking restrictions.

“Smoking will not be allowed in open spaces, in places where there are crowds, if there is not sufficient social distance,” Torres told a news conference, adding that terraces were included in the restrictions.

Canary islands coronavirus
The smoking ban will come into effect on Friday along with mandatory wearing of face masks in all public spaces [File: Desiree Martin/AFP]

14:45 GMT – Portugal keeps Lisbon under stricter COVID curbs until end of August 

The Portuguese capital and its surrounds will remain under tougher anti-coronavirus restrictions than the rest of the country until at least the end of August, the government said.

Greater Lisbon will stay under the so-called state of contingency, meaning most commercial spaces, excluding restaurants, must shut by 8pm.

There is also a 10-person limit for gatherings, compared to 20 across the rest of the nation.

Portugal has reported 53,223 infections and 1,764 deaths from the coronavirus, much lower than many other European countries including neighbouring Spain, where more than 28,500 have died.

14:35 GMT – US jobless claims fall below 1 million for first time since March 

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped below one million last week for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, likely as the expiration of a $600 weekly jobless supplement discouraged some from filing claims.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits totalled a seasonally adjusted 963,000 for the week ended August 8, compared to 1.191 million in the previous week, the US Labor Department said on Thursday.

That was the lowest level since mid-March when authorities started shutting down non-essential businesses to slow the spread of coronavirus. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 1.12 million applications in the latest week.

Read more here

14:25 GMT – AstraZeneca says could begin COVID-19 vaccine production early in 2021

Production of a COVID-19 vaccine under an agreement between the Mexican and Argentine governments and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca could begin in the first quarter of 2021, an AstraZeneca executive announced.

Sylvia Varela, head of AstraZeneca Mexico, said at the Mexican president’s daily news conference that Phase III trials were expected to conclude by November or December.

14:00 GMT – Kazakhstan to gradually ease coronavirus restrictions 

Kazakhstan will gradually ease its coronavirus-related restrictions from August 17, the TASS news agency cited the government as saying. 

12:45 GMT – UK job ads hit post-lockdown high in early August: Recruiters

Employers in the United Kingdom have posted the most job advertisements since the country went into its coronavirus lockdown in March, according to a survey.

Total job postings rose by 126,000 between August 3 and August 9 to 1.10 million, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said.

However, the total number of job postings remained well below the 1.35 million that were active in early March, before the lockdown, REC said.

12:15 GMT – Seven African countries to start testing for COVID-19 antibodies

Seven African countries will start administering coronavirus antibody tests from next week, a regional body said on Thursday, as part of efforts to understand the extent of the outbreak on the continent.

“Liberia, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Nigeria, Morocco are the first set of countries that committed to it,” said John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, based in Addis Ababa.

Western governments are using antibody tests to find out how many of their citizens have been infected, in the hope that will help them reopen their economies. 

11:45 GMT – Vietnam reports 25 more COVID-19 infections

Vietnam’s health ministry reported 25 more coronavirus infections and three additional deaths on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases in the Southeast Asian country to 905, with 20 fatalities.

More than 430 of the total cases are linked to the central city of Danang, where the new outbreak began late last month.

The ministry said 133,340 people are being quarantined in the country, including 5,361 at hospitals, 25,043 at centralised quarantine centres and the rest at home.

11:10 GMT – Finland recommends use of face masks on public transport

Finland’s government backs public health authorities’ new recommendation to use face masks on public transport and in other situations where social distancing is not possible, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said.

Health authorities reported 41 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, a daily record since the end of May, bringing the total to 7,683 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Prior to Thursday, Finland had not officially recommended the use of masks. 

Air travellers wear masks as they arrive at Ivalo Airport, Finland January 24, 2020. On Thursday, two tourists visiting Finland from Wuhan, China went to a health centre in Ivalo, seeking treatment fo
Finnish health authorities reported 41 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday [File: Reuters]

10:40 GMT – French unemployment rate hits 37-year low as lockdown skews data

French unemployment fell to a 37-year low in the second quarter, as a multiyear downtrend was exaggerated by a coronavirus lockdown that meant people could not look for work, data from statistics agency INSEE showed.

The jobless rate fell to 7.1 percent from 7.8 percent in the first quarter, dropping to its lowest since the second quarter of 1983, when it stood at 7 percent.

INSEE warned that unemployment data for the first two quarters of 2020 was skewed because of the mid-March to mid-May lockdown, which reduced the number of those classified as unemployed by making it impossible for them to look for jobs.

10:15 GMT – Philippines reports 4,002 more coronavirus infections

The Philippines’ health ministry reported 4,002 more novel coronavirus infections and 23 additional deaths in the country.

In a bulletin, the ministry said the total number of confirmed cases in the Philippines had risen to 147,526, the highest in Southeast Asia, while confirmed deaths had reached 2,426.

The Philippines plans to launch clinical trials for a Russian coronavirus vaccine in October after Russia became the first country to grant regulatory approval for a COVID-19 vaccine, drawing safety concerns over the frantic pace of its development

09:50 GMT – Indonesia reports 2,098 new coronavirus infections

Indonesia reported 2,098 new coronavirus infections, taking the total number of cases in the Southeast Asian country to 132,816, data from the country’s health ministry showed.

The data also showed 65 additional deaths, taking the total to 5,968.

Indonesia commuters
Passengers wearing protective masks and face shields queue for a public bus in Jakarta [File: Reuters]

09:30 GMT – Malaysia jails Indian linked to fresh virus outbreak

A Malaysian court jailed an Indian man for five months for violating a home quarantine order, leading to dozens of new coronavirus infections, the Bernama state news agency reported.

The 57-year-old, who resides in Malaysia and owns a restaurant in the northern state of Kedah, pleaded guilty to four charges of violating a mandated 14-day home quarantine order upon his return from India in July.

He was also fined 12,000 ringgit ($2,864) by the Alor Setar Magistrate’s Court, which held a special hearing at a Kedah hospital where the accused was undergoing treatment, Bernama reported.

09:00 GMT – Hong Kong reports 69 new coronavirus cases

Hong Kong reported 69 new coronavirus cases, of which 65 were locally transmitted, as authorities cautioned the global financial hub still faced a critical period to control the virus, which has seen a resurgence since early July.

Since late January, more than 4,200 people have been infected in Hong Kong, 65 of whom have died. Thursday’s figure was up slightly from Wednesday’s 62 cases.

Hong Kong
People wear surgical masks at a wet market at Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong [File: Reuters]

08:30 GMT – Nearly 6 percent of people in England may have had COVID-19

Nearly 6 percent of people in England were likely infected with COVID-19 during the peak of the pandemic, researchers studying the prevalence of infections said, millions more people than that have tested positive for the disease.

A total of 313,798 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the UK, 270,971 of which have been in England.

However, a study that tested more than 100,000 people across England for antibodies to the coronavirus showed that nearly 6 percent of people had them, suggesting that 3.4 million people had previously contracted COVID-19 by the end of June.

Prevalence of infections appeared to be the highest in London, where 13 percent of people had antibodies, while minority ethnic groups were two to three times as likely to have had COVID-19 compared with white people.

 

08:00 GMT – Russia’s coronavirus cases surpass 907,000

Russia reported 5,057 new cases of the novel coronavirus bringing its nationwide tally to 907,758, the fourth largest caseload in the world.

Russia’s coronavirus task force said 124 people had died over the last 24 hours, pushing its official death toll to 15,384.

The United States, Brazil, India and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries in the world.

07:50 GMT – Thai scientists catch bats to trace virus origins

Researchers in Thailand have been trekking through the countryside to catch bats in their caves in an effort to help trace the origins of the coronavirus.

The closest match to the coronavirus has been found in horseshoe bats in Yunnan in southern China. Thailand has 19 species of horseshoe bats but researchers said they have not yet been tested for the new coronavirus.

The team from the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Diseases-Health Science Center took saliva, blood, and stool samples from the bats before releasing them. Read more.

07:25 GMT – Limited testing? Researchers in Rwanda have an idea

Like many countries, Rwanda is finding it impossible to test each of its citizens for the coronavirus amid a shortage of supplies. But researchers there have created an approach that is drawing attention beyond the African continent.

They are using an algorithm to refine the process of pooled testing, which tests batches of samples from groups of people and then tests each person individually only if a certain batch comes back positive for COVID-19. Pooled testing conserves scarce testing materials.

Rwanda’s mathematical approach, researchers say, makes that process more efficient. That is an advantage for developing countries with limited resources, where some people must wait several days for results. Longer waits mean a greater chance of unknowingly spreading the virus.

07:15 GMT – Brazil state signs deal to make Russian vaccine

The Brazilian state of Parana signed a deal to test and produce Russia’s new coronavirus vaccine, though officials stressed they would have to be sure of its safety and effectiveness first.

The vaccine would have to receive Brazilian regulatory approval and complete phase three clinical trials, or large-scale testing in humans, before being produced in Brazil, said officials from the southern state.

Production, if it goes ahead, would likely only start in the second half of 2021, said Jorge Callado, head of the state-run Parana Technology Institute, which signed the deal with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

06:55 GMT – Germany optimistic about vaccine in coming months 

German Health Minister Jens Spahn told ZDF television he expects there would be a COVID-19 vaccine in the coming months and definitely next year.

“I’m optimistic that in the next months, and certainly in the next year, there can be a vaccine,” Spahn said.

He declined to give a specific month and said it was not yet possible to say how often people would need to be vaccinated or how long-lasting the immunity it conferred would be.

06:25 GMT – India’s cases jump by 67,000 in daily record

India reported another record daily rise in novel coronavirus infections, while the death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 47,000.

Infections grew by 66,999 on Thursday from a day earlier to reach a total of nearly 2.4 million to date, India’s health ministry said.

The country, with the world’s biggest caseload behind the United States and Brazil, has now reported a jump of 50,000 cases or more each day for 15 straight days.

Coronavirus - India
Infections in India grew by 66,999 on Thursday from a day earlier [EPA] 

06:00 GMT – Ukraine sees record daily high 1,592 new cases

Ukraine recorded a record daily jump of 1,592 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the national council of security and defence said.

The number of infections has increased sharply in Ukraine in the past two months as authorities have eased some restrictions, allowing cafes, churches and public transport to reopen.


Hello, this is Umut Uras in Doha taking over from my colleague Zaheena Rasheed.


04:45 GMT – Passengers from China to be allowed temporary transit through Hong Kong

Hong Kong International Airport said passengers from mainland China would be able to transit through Hong Kong to other destinations from August 15 until October 15, in a boost for its dominant carrier Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.

Transit in the other direction, inbound to mainland China, will remain banned at a time when China’s aviation regulator has severely limited the number of international flights due to concerns over the spread of coronavirus.

04:05 GMT – TUI agrees new 1.2 billion euros aid package

Tourism giant TUI and the German government have agreed to a second massive aid package to bolster the firm through its winter 2020-21 season.  

The Hanover-based company agreed to a 1.2 billion euros ($1.4bn) package with German public lender KfW on Wednesday. The new funds add to the 1.8 billion-euro government loan that the company agreed to in April. 

CEO Fritz Joussen said while the group had already introduced “massive” cost reductions, “no one knows when a vaccine or medication will be available and what effects the pandemic will have in individual markets in the coming months”.

03:21 GMT – Close adviser to Venezuela’s president has coronavirus

Jorge Rodriguez, Venezuela’s communications minister and close adviser to President Nicolas Maduro, said he has been diagnosed with the coronavirus.

“Even though I am in good general condition, I must comply with the isolation measures and the necessary care in order to overcome the virus,” Rodriguez said on Twitter.

Venezuela's Communications and Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez
Venezuela’s Communications and Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez, left, said he was in ‘good general condition’ [File: Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters]

02:49 GMT – Argentina, Mexico to produce AstraZeneca vaccine

Argentina and Mexico will produce the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for most of Latin America, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said after a meeting with company executives involved in the project.

An agreement signed between British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the biotechnology company mAbxience of the INSUD Group includes the transfer of technology to initially produce 150 million doses of the vaccine to supply all of Latin America with the exception of Brazil, according to the Argentine government.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said later on Twitter the deal had been pushed by Fernandez and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He said output of the vaccine could extend to 250 million doses.

WHO COVID Debrief on global coronavirus vaccine efforts (4:07)

02:17 GMT – NFL Union, league agree to daily testing through September 5

National Football League (NFL) players in the US can expect daily COVID-19 testing through September 5, the players’ union said in advance of the season kick-off next month.

The league has conducted 109,075 COVID-19 tests among players, staff and coaches since the start of training camps through Tuesday, NFL Chief Medical Officer Allen Sills told reporters, with an overall positive rate 0.46 percent and a positive rate among players of 0.81 percent.

A total of 53 new positives were confirmed among players upon their intake into training camp last month.

“Our goal is all the same: to have the safest possible environment for everyone,” said Sills. “We want to try to ensure that there’s no one – player, coach, staff member, official, anyone – who steps onto a field with an active COVID infection.”

02:04 GMT – New Zealand logs 14 new cases

New Zealand reported 14 new COVID-19 cases, of which 13 were locally transmitted infections, as officials scrambled to trace the source of the country’s first outbreak in more than 100 days.

There are now a total of 36 active cases in the country.

“We can see the seriousness of the situation we are in,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a televised media conference, noting that experience showed “things will get worse before they get better”.

More cases were likely to be reported in coming days, she said.

Officials said all of the 13 locally transmitted infections were linked to the four Auckland family members in whom the latest outbreak was first detected. Three of the new cases were at a refrigerator storage facility, where one of the family members worked.

NZEALAND - HEALTH - VIRUS
A health worker conducts a test at a COVID-19 coronavirus testing centre in the suburb of Northcote in Auckland on August 12, 2020 [David Rowland/ AFP]

01:48 GMT – Disney World actors ready to work after testing dispute resolved

Walt Disney World actors, who argued that the US theme park’s proposed coronavirus safeguards were inadequate to protect them, have resolved a dispute about COVID-19 testing, according to a union statement.

The Actors’ Equity Association had called on Walt Disney Co to provide regular coronavirus testing for its members, who cannot wear protective masks while performing as other park employees do.

Disney said on Wednesday that it would provide space just outside Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, for a testing site run by the Florida Division of Emergency Management. The site will be open to Disney employees, known as cast members, and the public.

01:35 GMT – Australia on course for lowest one-day rise in three weeks

Australia was poised to post its lowest one-day rise in new COVID-19 cases in more than three weeks on Thursday, stoking hopes that a second wave of new infections gripping Victoria state is finally being brought under control.

Victoria reported 278 new infections in the past 24 hours, down from 410 a day earlier.

Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales reported 12 new cases, while Queensland state said it had found no new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours.

Barring a large rise in cases from states that have effectively eliminated the virus, that means Australia’s total of 290 cases would be the lowest one-day rise in new coronavirus cases since July 20.

Australian authorities cautiously welcomed the decline.

“I think we have to wait and see what happens over the coming week just to make sure that downward slope continues over the days ahead,” Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd told Australia’s Channel 9.

Melbourne lockdown
Nearly five million people in Melbourne have been confined to their homes except for essential reasons for nearly a month [James Ross/ AAP via Reuters]

01:19 GMT – Mexico’s confirmed cases almost at 500,000

Mexico’s health ministry reported 5,858 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 737 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 498,380 cases and 54,666 deaths.

The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.

00:58 GMT – UN chief says pandemic threatens peace and risks new conflicts

Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, warned that the COVID-19 pandemic not only threatens gains in fighting global poverty and building peace but risks exacerbating existing conflicts and “fomenting new ones”.

The UN chief told a Security Council meeting a number of warring parties took steps to de-escalate and stop fighting following his March 23 call for an immediate ceasefire in conflicts around the world to tackle the coronavirus.

“Yet, regrettably, in many instances, the pandemic did not move the parties to suspend hostilities or agree to a permanent ceasefire,” Guterres said.

The pandemic has also raised growing questions about the effectiveness of health systems, social services, trust in institutions and systems of governance, he said.

“All of this means that our commitment to sustaining peace is more urgent than ever.”

The UN chief also warned that “without concerted action, inequalities, global poverty and the potential for instability and violence could grow for years”.

00:37 GMT – Peru to return to total curfew on Sundays

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra announced the return of a total curfew on Sundays in response to a new surge in coronavirus cases in the country.

“We want and think that it is better to go back one step so that we are all responsible again for recovering the conditions that we would all like to have,” he said.

The national curfew will prohibit gatherings of family and friends.

Peru’s government has reported more than 489,000 infections, with an average of more than 7,000 new cases per day, and the highest death rate per million in the Americas, above Chile, the United States, Brazil and Mexico.

00:24 GMT – England’s revamped contact-tracing app to begin public trials

A revamped coronavirus contact-tracing app for England will begin its public trials on Thursday, according to the BBC.

The software will be modelled after Apple and Google’s privacy-centric method of one smartphone detecting another, BBC said, adding that engineers were still trying to reduce how often the Bluetooth-based tech wrongly flags people as being within two metres (6.6ft) of each other. 

The app will also let people scan barcode-like QR codes to log venue visits.

FILE PHOTO: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London
Shoppers walk past social distancing signs following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, in London [File: Toby Melville/ Reuters]

00:14 GMT – White House, Democrats trade blame over aid deadlock

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, one of President Donald Trump’s top negotiators with Democrats on US coronavirus aid, tried to shift blame for a five-day lapse in talks back on House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Mnuchin disputed a statement from Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that said Republicans had invited more talks but refused to budge from their initial offer of a $1 trillion response.

He said Pelosi “made clear that she was unwilling to meet to continue negotiations unless we agreed in advance to her proposal, costing at least $2 trillion”.

Sticking points between the two sides include the size of an extended unemployment benefit, aid to state and local governments, money for schools to reopen and other issues.

Congress has already approved about $3 trillion in assistance for families, hospitals, healthcare workers, state and local governments, vaccine research and testing.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday found that Americans divide blame pretty evenly between Democrats and Republicans.


Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Zaheena Rasheed in Male, Maldives. 

For all the key developments from yesterday, August 12, go here

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies