A woman wearing protective mask rolls a baby carriage past municipal workers in downtown Arbat street in Moscow on Sept 4, 2020. (ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP)
SAO PAULO / BOGOTA / QUITO / CAIRO / TBILISI / RABAT / MOSCOW / PRAGUE / LONDON / LOS ANGELES - Russia registered 5,195 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking its caseload to 1,025,505, the country's COVID-19 response center said in a statement Sunday.
Meanwhile, 61 new deaths were reported, taking the death toll to 17,820.
Moscow, the country's worst-hit region, reported 620 new cases, bringing its tally of infections to 266,357, the center said.
According to the statement, 840,949 patients have recovered so far, including 2,823 over the past day.
As of Wednesday, 209,155 people were still under medical observation, while over 38.4 million tests have been conducted across the country.
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Brazil
With 682 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, Brazil's death toll from COVID-19 has risen to 126,203, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a total of 4,123,000 COVID-19 cases have so far been reported nationwide, up by 30,168 from a day earlier.
In total, 22 states have reported over 1,000 deaths each, with the state of Sao Paulo, the most highly populated in the country, registering 31,313 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 16,526 deaths, and Ceara with 8,565 deaths.
People walk by a mural against former Colombian President (2002-2010) Alvaro Uribe, which was painted over and now shows a graffiti against the FARC, once the most powerful guerrilla group on the American continent and now the reformed FARC political party, in Bogota on Sept 5, 2020. (JUAN BARRETO / AFP)
Colombia
Colombia registered 8,394 new COVID-19 cases and 268 more deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's total to 658,456 cases and 21,156 fatalities, the Health Ministry said Saturday.
Meanwhile, a total of 507,770 patients have recovered from the disease.
Officials said international flights are expected to resume later this month and land borders could open in October.
The country's migration authority said that it would present a newly-designed application so that international travelers can shorten their waiting time to minimize the risk of COVID-19 infection during the entry or exit process.
Ecuador
The Ecuadoran Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that 870 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and 50 more deaths were registered in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 118,045, with 6,724 deaths.
The ministry also stated that another 3,752 deaths were likely caused by COVID-19, but these have yet to be confirmed.
Most of the infections are concentrated in the capital city of Quito, the current epicenter of the pandemic in the country, which has reported 22,460 cases.
Infections began to spike in the capital after June 3, when the quarantine was relaxed in order to reactivate the economy.
Egypt
Egypt recorded on Saturday 130 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total infections in the country to 99,712, the Egyptian Health Ministry said in a statement.
According to the statement, 16 patients died from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the total deaths to 5,551.
Meanwhile, 903 others were cured and discharged from hospitals on Saturday, bringing the total recoveries to 77,208, the statement added.
Egypt announced its first confirmed COVID-19 case on Feb. 14 and the first death from the highly infectious virus on March 8.
Amid declining COVID-19 deaths and fatalities, the most populous Arab country has been easing relevant restrictions over the past couple of months as part of a coexistence plan to maintain anti-coronavirus precautionary measures while resuming economic activities.
Women walk at The Palais de Tokyo Museum wearing a protective face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus in Paris, Sept 5, 2020. (FRANCOIS MORI / AP)
France
The surge in new coronavirus cases in France is far outstripping increases in other European countries and is coming just as millions of children return to school, leaving the government weighing ways to respond.
New cases jumped by almost 9,000 Friday, the biggest daily increase since the start of the pandemic. That was almost twice the advance in Spain and about four times Italy’s, with daily cases in both countries at or near the highest gains in months. Infections are also surging in Germany and the UK.
Part of the French spike is linked to testing increasing to more than 1 million a week, and policy makers can take some comfort from the fact that hospitalizations and fatalities are contained. The number of patients in intensive care was at 473 Friday, compared with about 7,000 at the peak. Still, the surge is coming just as 12 million students return to school, creating pressure for action on a government reluctant to consider a new, national lockdown.
“I can’t imagine a total re-confinement and the president doesn’t want to consider a general re-confinement,” Health Minister Olivier Veran said on BFM TV Saturday. “The lockdown was a lid on a cauldron that was spilling over. Today, we have other means to fight against the spread of the virus, and above all we’re able to track it.”
New measures did go into effect this week. Masks are now mandatory for companies with groups working in enclosed spaces and cities from Paris to Marseilles are making masks compulsory, even outside. Children older than 11 also have to cover their faces.
Some things remain sacrosanct. The Tour de France started in Nice last week after a two-month delay. Still, with strict health protocols in place, the cyclists’ Grand Depart was watched by just 100 people.
Across Europe, cases have been jumping due to a combination of stepped up testing and an easing of lockdown measures that permitted millions to travel this summer. Reviving broad lockdowns may not be an option for leaders struggling to revive crippled economies who are facing growing public fatigue, and even open opposition to restrictions that have triggered protests in places like Germany, the UK and Italy.
The economy may continue to take priority over lockdowns as long as hospitalizations and fatalities remain constrained. Many of the new infections have been among younger, healthier people, who tend to recover more quickly and with fewer complications. President Emmanuel Macron’s government announced a 100 billion-euro (US$118 billion) stimulus plan on Sept 3, as France tries to revive an economy that forecast to contract 11 percent this year.
Georgia
Georgia confirmed 29 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing its total to 1,650.
Two of the 29 new cases were imported, the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC) said.
As of Sunday, 1,310 of the 1,650 patients have recovered, while 19 others have died, the center said.
Meanwhile, Amiran Gamkrelidze, head of the NCDC, called on people to refrain from large gatherings and remain committed to the government-imposed restrictions to avoid a further spread of the virus.
Georgia reported its first confirmed case on Feb 26.
Employees and Tigres' mascot wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) disinfect the stands at an empty Universitario stadium during halftime of the Mexican Apertura 2020 football tournament match between Tigres and Guadalajara in Monterrey, Mexico, on Sept 5, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (JULIO CESAR AGUILAR / AFP)
Mexico
Mexico’s deputy health minister said the government had ordered 1.1 million additional death certificates be printed as several parts of the country ran out and COVID-19 cases continue to soar.
Mexico has registered over 66,000 coronavirus-related fatalities, putting it fourth in terms of COVID-19 deaths behind the US, Brazil and India.
The World Health Organization has also said Mexico’s cases and deaths are probably “under-recognized” due to limited testing.
Despite this scenario, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said the government’s strategy to tackle the coronavirus was “very good.”
Speaking in a press conference Friday evening, Hugo Lopez Gatell, the health official, said that some states, including Mexico state, were out of death certificates. Authorities had been working for the past two to three weeks to redistribute them from areas with larger stocks, he added.
“They almost ran out in Mexico City,” the deputy minister said. “It has been a pretty intense job.”
The new certificates started to arrive on Thursday, just before stocks from the redistribution also ran out, Lopez Gatell said. According to Health Ministry data as of Friday, Mexico reported 6,196 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 623,090. Deaths stand at 66,851.
Morocco
Morocco registered 1,555 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the tally in the North African country since March 2 to 70,160, the health ministry said in a statement.
In addition, 37 new deaths were reported, pushing the death toll to 1,329.
The total recoveries increased by 1,446 to 53,929 in the last 24 hours, while more than 185 patients are in intensive care units.
Slovakia
Slovakia on Saturday reported a spike of 226 cases of the new coronavirus, the biggest one-day rise in the central European country since the start of the pandemic.
The jump comes as neighbours in the region have also seen record rises in virus cases after the summer holidays and as students return to school. Officials are seeking to avoid large-scale lockdowns similar to those seen at the start of the outbreak, which hammered economic activity.
On Saturday, the Czech Republic recorded 798 new cases, its biggest daily rise so far, while Hungary reported a record 510 new cases.
Slovakia’s death rate from the COVID-19 illness remains one of the lowest in Europe at 37 fatalities. Of a total of 4,526 total cases of the new virus, 2,797 patients have recovered.
The country largely contained the spread after the initial outbreak with daily case numbers in May and June mostly in single digits.
But it has seen a spike above 100 daily cases several times since August. Its previous record rise was 137 cases on Sept 3.
In response, the country has tightened measures on mask wearing and crowd sizes.
Supporters of migrant's rights gather with placards in Dover on the south-east coast of England, on Sept 5, 2020, as pro-and anti-migrant demonstrations take place in the town. (GLYN KIRK / AFP)
UK
The United Kingdom recorded 1,813 new daily confirmed cases of COVID-19, versus 1,940 on Friday, health officials said on Saturday.
Daily case numbers were about 1,000 a day for most of August, but have started to increase in recent days. Britain’s testing capacity has also increased since the peak of the first wave earlier this year.
Friday’s figure was the highest since May 30.
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A worker dressed in personal protective equipment approaches a coronavirus testing site in Los Angeles, California on Sept 4, 2020. (FREDERIC J BROWN / AFP)
US
The number of deaths caused by the novel coronavirus rose by 986 to 187,159 people, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Saturday, reporting a total of 6,181,474 cases, an increase of 49,400 from its previous count.
The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT) on Sept 4 compared with its previous report a day earlier.
The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.
