Global coronavirus cases exceed 25 million: Live news

Over 16.4 million recoveries and 842,000 deaths reported; US, Brazil and India report highest number of infections.

People wear masks as they walk on the street following a government decree that face coverings must be worn between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. in areas close to bars and pubs and where gatherings are more like
People wear masks as they walk on the street following a government decree that face coverings must be worn between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. in areas close to bars and pubs and where gatherings are more likely, due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Naples, Italy August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Ciro De Luca [Reuters]
  • Global coronavirus cases surged past 25 million, according to a Johns Hopkins University’s tally, as deaths exceed 843,000. More than 16.4 million have recovered.
  • India’s health ministry announced on Sunday at least 78,761 new infections in 24 hours, setting a new daily record worldwide.
  • Brazil’s Ministry of Health has reported at least 758 additional coronavirus fatalities during the last 24 hours, with 41,350 new cases, bringing the death toll to 120,262, and the confirmed cases to 3,846,153.
  • Every Italian region reported new coronavirus cases after a record 99,000 tests turned up another 1,444 cases.

Here are the latest updates:

Sunday, August 30

23:08 GMT – Pakistan reports lowest number of new daily cases in four months

Pakistani authorities have reported 264 new COVID-19 cases, the country’s lowest daily count for the new coronavirus in more than four months.

In a statement Sunday, the national command and control center said only four people died from the new virus in the previous 24 hours, taking overall COVID-19 deaths to 6,288 since the start of the outbreak in February.

However, health officials are still trying to understand the reason for a steady decline in infections in Pakistan, which witnessed twin peaks in June when daily confirmed cases reached up to 6,825.

It was then when hospitals were full amid shortage of medicine, oxygen and ventilators, and even face masks were not easily available.

19:40 GMT – Jordan reports its highest daily tally of infections

Jordan reported 73 new cases, its highest daily tally since the start of the outbreak, the health ministry said.

The country’s total number of confirmed infections now stands at 1,966, with 15 deaths, since the first case surfaced in early March, according to the health ministry.

Jordan has seen a jump in daily numbers over the last 10 days, prompting authorities to toughen a nationwide overnight curfew, which now starts at 11pm rather than 1am, and to introduce a one-day lockdown in the capital Amman on Friday.

Officials have also delayed the resumption of regular commercial flights from Alia international airport, which was expected to happen this month, hampering prospects of a rapid recovery for its debt-burdened economy.

17:36 GMT – France shows steady growth in new cases

France reported 5,413 new cases, slightly down from the 5,453 seen on Saturday.

The health ministry said the cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths rose to 30,606 from 30,602 reported on Saturday.

The number of people in hospital with the disease was 4,535 versus 4,530 the day before and the number in intensive care rose to 402 from 400.

“In mainland France, the progression of the COVID-19 epidemic is exponential. The strong growth dynamics of transmission is very worrying.” the ministry said in a statement.

Outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Paris
Police officers wearing protective masks patrol in front of the Eiffel Tower as France reinforces mask-wearing as part of efforts to curb a resurgence of the coronavirus disease [Charles Platiau/Reuters]

17:34 GMT – US CDC reports coronavirus deaths increase by 1,006 to 182,149

The number of deaths caused by the coronavirus rose by 1,006 to 182,149 people, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, reporting a total of 5,934,824 cases, an increase of 44,292 from its previous count.

16:22 GMT – Turkey records 1,482 new cases, 42 deaths

Turkey registered 1,482 new cases and 42 fatalities in the past 24 hours, the health minister said. It also recorded 1,027 recoveries.

To date, the country reported 267,064 cases nationwide and 6,284 deaths.

16:13 GMT – Zante flight to Cardiff told to self isolate after cases found

Passengers who were on a flight last week from the Greek island of Zakynthos to Cardiff in Wales have been told to isolate after it was identified as the source of at least seven confirmed coronavirus cases, Public Health Wales said.

“Cardiff and Vale Test Trace Protect and Public Health Wales have identified at least seven confirmed cases of COVID-19 from three different parties who were infectious on TUI Flight 6215 from Zante to Cardiff on 25 August,” said Giri Shankar, incident director for the coronavirus outbreak response at Public Health Wales.

“As a result, we are advising that all passengers on this flight are considered close contacts and must self-isolate,” he said in a statement.

Shankar added that investigations had found that the virus had spread to other groups of people because of “a lack of social distancing, in particular by a minority of the 20-30 year age group”.

15:06 GMT – Britain records 1,715 new cases

The United Kingdom reported 1,715 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, up 607 cases from the day before, according to government data. 

One person had died after they tested positive for the disease within 28 days, it said. 

The country has so far recorded 334,926 infections and 41,585 deaths.

14:18 GMT – Germany politicians condemn far-right flags outside parliament

Leading politicians condemned protesters who stormed the steps of Germany’s Reichstag parliament building, some of them holding far-right flags, during mass marches against coronavirus curbs a day earlier.

Finance minister Olaf Scholz, of the Social Democrats, the junior partner in Angela Merkel’s conservative-led ruling coalition and candidate to succeed her as chancellor, said Germans must do everything possible to prevent such scenes.

“It is unacceptable that some now appear in front of the Bundestag building, the Reichstag building, the most important symbol of our democracy, the parliament, with symbols from a bad dark past, flags that have nothing to do with our modern democracy,” Scholz told journalists at a brief news conference outside his party’s headquarters in central Berlin.

Scholz’s comments were echoed by politicians including German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the chair of Merkel’s Christian Democrats, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

“I’m truly incensed,” Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Twitter.

13:47 GMT – Schools to reopen in Nigeria’s Lagos as cases decline 

Schools will reopen in Nigeria’s commercial hub of Lagos next month as part of plans to revive the economy as COVID-19 cases decline, the state governor said.

Lagos, the epicentre of the pandemic in Nigeria, plans to reopen colleges on September 14, and primary and secondary school schools on September 21, Babajide Sanwo-Olu said.

“The gradual easing doesn’t mean the pandemic is over,” he said in a tweet. “It is not an invitation to carelessness or nonchalance.”

The Lagos governor said restaurants, social clubs and recreational centers would also be allowed to reopen as long as they followed safety rules.

Nigeria has reported 53,727 infections in total – including 18,104 in Lagos – and 1,011 deaths.

Hello, this is Farah Najjar taking over from my colleague Umut Uras.

12:30 GMT – FDA commissioner says willing to fast-track COVID-19 vaccine – FT

The head of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is willing to fast-track a COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as possible, the Financial Times reported him as saying in a published interview.

Stephen Hahn, who serves as the commissioner of FDA, said his agency was prepared to authorise a vaccine before phase three clinical trials were complete, the paper reported

11:45 GMT – Mutated coronavirus strain found in Indonesia

A more infectious mutation of the new coronavirus has been found in Indonesia, the Jakarta-based Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology said.

Indonesia reported 2,858 new infections on Sunday, data by the health ministry showed, below the previous day’s record 3,308 but above the past month’s daily average. Its total number of cases was 172,053, with 7,343 COVID-19 fatalities.

The “infectious but milder” D614G mutation of the virus has been found in genome-sequencing data from samples collected by the institute, deputy director Herawati Sudoyo told the Reuters news agency, adding that more study is required to determine whether that was behind the recent rise in cases.

The strain, which the World Health Organization said was identified in February and has been circulating in Europe and the Americas, has also been found in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia.

11:00 GMT – Global coronavirus cases exceed 25 million

Global coronavirus cases surged past 25 million, according to data compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University, with India setting the record for the highest single-day rise in cases.

The university’s running data showed that global confirmed COVID-19 infections stood at 25,009,739 and the number of recoveries had reached 16,411,400.

The data showed steady global growth as the disease’s epicentre shifts again, with India taking centre stage from the United States and Latin America.

India’s single-day tally of 78,761 new coronavirus infections on Sunday exceeded the one-day increase of 77,299 reported by the US in mid-July. 

Read more here.

10:10 GMT- UK’s Sunak ‘considers’ sweeping tax hikes to plug COVID-19 hole

British finance minister Rishi Sunak is considering a sweeping set of tax increases to help fix the huge hole in the public finances left by the coronavirus pandemic, two newspapers have said.

Tax hikes suggested by Treasury officials could raise an extra 20-30 billion pounds a year, the Telegraph and the Sunday Times reported, and some of them could be announced in an autumn budget statement by Sunak. However, officials working for Prime Minister Boris Johnson are fiercely opposed to a major tax raid on wealthier voters and want to consider spending cuts instead, the Telegraph said.

Britain’s public debt has passed two trillion pounds ($2.7 trillion), pushed up by emergency spending on Sunak’s coronavirus job retention scheme, tax cuts for businesses and consumers and even a dining-out subsidy to coax people back into restaurants.

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak
Tax hikes suggested by Sunak could raise an extra 20-30 billion pounds a year, reports say [Reuters] 

9:20 GMT – British universities should not reopen next month: Union

British universities should scrap plans to reopen next month to prevent travelling students from fuelling the country’s coronavirus pandemic, a union said, calling for courses to be taught online.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has come under fire over its moves to restart education, especially after a row over exam results for school students and a failed attempt to bring all pupils back to their classes earlier this year.

Johnson has been calling on Britons to return to something more akin to normality after the coronavirus lockdown, calling on workers to return to offices to help the economy recover from a 20 percent contraction in the April-June period.

8:45 GMT – Brazil to extend coronavirus economic aid on Tuesday: Official

Brazil will officially announce the extension of an aid payment programme designed to help people weather the economic damage of the novel coronavirus pandemic, a government official said.

President Jair Bolsonaro has previously stated that the aid payments, which are due to expire this month, will be renewed through the end of the year. However, a planned announcement last Tuesday was delayed after disagreements about the form of future aid payments and related benefits arose between the Economy Ministry and Bolsonaro.

“On Tuesday, we’re going to the Alvorada Palace to announce, together with President Jair Bolsonaro, the extension of emergency payments, a benefit that is so important for millions of Brazilians that need help to confront the pandemic,” Deputy Arthur Lira, the head in the lower house of a powerful political bloc known as the Centrao, wrote on Twitter.

8:15 GMT – Indonesia reports 2,858 new coronavirus infections

Indonesia reported 2,858 new coronavirus infections and 82 more deaths, taking the total number of cases to 172,053 and fatalities to 7,343, data by the country’s health ministry showed.

Indonesia is the East Asian country with the second highest number of new coronavirus infections after the Philippines.

A worker cleans chairs for rent as beaches are reopening following months of lockdown due to the new coronavirus outbreak, in Bali, Indonesia, Monday, July 27, 2020. The Indonesia Health ministry anno
A worker cleans chairs for rent on a beach in the Indonesian tourist island of Bali [File: AP]

7:45 GMT – Russia’s coronavirus infection tally climbs to near 1 million

Russia reported 4,980 new coronavirus cases, pushing its confirmed national tally to 990,326.

Authorities said 68 people had died of COVID-19 over the last 24 hours, raising the official death toll to 17,093

7:10 GMT – Mexico coronavirus cases rise to 591,712

Mexico’s health ministry reported 5,974 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infections and 673 additional fatalities, bringing the total to 591,712 cases and 63,819 deaths.

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

Mexico coronavirus
Mexico says the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases [Reuters] 

06:25 GMT – China reports nine imported coronavirus cases

Mainland China reported nine new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Saturday, all them imported, the National Health Commission said on Sunday, meaning there were no locally transmitted infections for a record 14th straight day.

The number of imported cases – found in people travelling into the country from overseas – was the same as a day earlier.

Three of these were recorded in Shanghai, with two in southeast China’s Fujian province, two in Sichuan in the country’s southwest and one each in the northern municipality of Tianjin and the southern province of Guangdong. The commission said another four asymptomatic carriers were found on Saturday, down from 10 a day earlier.

6:00 GMT – South Korea marks 17th day of triple-digit cases with dining curbs

South Korea reported its 17th day of triple-digit rises in coronavirus infections, as restrictions on onsite dining at restaurants, pubs and bakeries in the densely populated Seoul area take effect.

There were 299 new infections as of Saturday midnight, the slowest daily rise in five days, bringing the national tally to 19,699 cases of the new coronavirus and 323 COVID-19 deaths, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.

On Friday, the country extended phase two social distancing rules – the second-strictest level – for at least another week and announced tougher rules on places with high risks of virus spread.

South Korea testing
A medical staffer takes test samples from a visitor at a coronavirus testing station in Seoul [File: AFP] 

05:30 GMT – Germany’s confirmed cases rise by 785 to 241,771: RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 785 to 241,771, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed.

The reported death toll rose by six to 9,295, the tally showed.


Hello, this is Umut Uras in Doha taking over from my colleague Ted Regencia.


04:50 GMT – India sets world’s highest single-day rise

India’s health ministry announced on Sunday at least 78,761 new infections in 24 hours, setting a new daily record worldwide.

With a population of more than 1.3 billion people, India ranks third with the most number of infections, behind the US and Brazil.

The United States previously recorded 77,638 daily cases in one day, according to the AFP news agency.

03:45 GMT – Germany reports new 785 cases

Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases reported on Sunday an additional 785 new coronavirus cases, pushing the total number of infections to 241,771.

The data also showed six additional deaths with the total number hitting 9,295.

03:25 GMT – Australia treads cautiously as coronavirus lingers

New coronavirus cases in Australia’s state of Victoria returned to the triple digits on Sunday, according to the government.

Southeastern Victoria reported 114 new cases, a day after the daily tally fell to 94, its lowest in nearly two months. Its capital, Melbourne, is four weeks into a six-week hard lockdown that authorities have said may ease only gradually.

“At 100, 94, at 114, whatever the number, we simply could not open up,” state Premier Daniel Andrews told a televised briefing on Sunday.

The nation of 25 million has suffered about 25,600 infections and just over 600 deaths since the start of the year.

Coronavirus - Melbourne
The nation of 25 million has suffered about 25,600 infections and just over 600 deaths since the start of the year [James Ross/EPA]

02:45 GMT – Hong Kong’s Joshua Wong calls for boycott of COVID-19 testing 

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has joined the call for residents of the city to boycott the COVID-19 testing plan being rolled out by the government starting on Tuesday.

The Hong Kong Hospital Authority employees alliance has also joined Wong’s call during a press conference on Sunday.

Hong Kong has more than 4,700 cases and 86 deaths reported so far. 

02:20 GMT – New Zealand reports two new COVID-19 cases

New Zealand’s director of public health, Caroline McElnay reported on Sunday theat there were two new cases of COVID-19 reported in New Zealand.

The latest development comes as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expressed anger over the botched communications regarding coronavirus testing in the country. 

But she also thanked residents of Auckland for abiding by the new restrictions in the country.

New Zealand has more than 1,700 cases and at least 22 deaths.

01:48 GMT – Tour de France imposes rules to limit spread of COVID-19

French authorities have made it harder for Tour de France teams to reach the finish line in Paris if a member tests positive.

Oficials decided teams will be expelled from the race if two or more of their staff members test positive for the coronavirus within a week, according to the Associated Press news agency.

The move was announced just a few hours before the start of the three-week race’s opening stage in Nice.

It overruled a decision from cycling’s governing body that had eased the Tour’s exclusion rules on Friday. There are 30 members per team, which includes staff.

01:08 GMT – South Korea’s new COVID-19 cases fall below 300

The number of daily new coronavirus cases in South Korea has fallen below 300 on Sunday – the first time in five days, as the government extends social distancing restrictions in greater Seoul, according to Yonhap news agency.

South Korea reported 299 new COVID-19 cases, including 283 local infections, raising the total caseload to 19,699, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

Two more patients died, raising the death toll to 323.

South Korea
South Korean health officials have tightened social distancing restrictions in the greater capital area of Seoul to help contain infections [Lee Jin-man/AP]

00:30 GMT – Thai scientists develop COVID-19 vaccine using tobacco leaves

A leading infectious disease doctor from Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University has announced that tests of new locally produced COVID-19 vaccines on monkeys had proved successful.

Dr Thiravat Hemachudha, head of the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Disease Health Science Centre, said that the latest vaccine is produced by integrating the virus’s DNA into tobacco leaves. The plant responds to the DNA and produces proteins about a week later, according to a report in the Bangkok Post.

The proteins are then extracted to make the vaccine. So far, it has been tested on mice and monkeys. The next step is testing it on humans.

“This vaccine, made with proteins from a special type of tobacco leaf, is easy and cheap to produce, even at an industrial scale. Also, there will be no patent-related problems with this approach,” he was quoted by the Bangkok Post as saying.

00:10 GMT – Brazil coronavirus deaths surpass 120,000

Brazil’s Ministry of Health has reported at least 758 additional coronavirus fatalities during the last 24 hours, with 41,350 new cases, bringing the death toll to 120,262, and the confirmed number of cases to 3,846,153.

Brazil is the second-hardest-hit country by COVID-19 after the United States, both in fatalities and infections. The country, however, reported a slowdown in the number of new cases and deaths.

00:01 GMT – Italy carries out record number of COVID-19 tests 

Every Italian region reported new coronavirus cases after a record 99,000 tests turned up another 1,444 cases, The Associated Press news agency reported.

The health ministry says one more victim of COVID-19 brought Italy’s official death toll to 35,473 on Saturday.

Italy has nearly doubled its daily tests this month amid a surge in new infections, mostly among young people returning from holidays.

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Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Ted Regencia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

For all the key developments from yesterday, August 29, go here.

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies