Texas hospitals are overwhelmed. Daily infection rates in the United States are breaking records every day. Britain is preparing to reopen most of its businesses, New Zealand has once again closed its borders, Texas has instituted mandatory masks, and the overall global situation remains bleak.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases is approaching 11 million, with over 520,000 deaths. The latest news on the world situation – in our daily collection.
The United Kingdom is preparing for a significant easing of quarantine measures, which will come into effect on July 4. In England, with the observance of sanitary norms, the following will be opened: In Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, the situation is similar, with a slight difference in the dates and the list of institutions reopening.
The British are eagerly awaiting the reopening of pubs and restaurants. Also on Friday, a list of several dozen countries will be published from which the mandatory two-week quarantine for those arriving in the UK will be waived. So far, only France, Germany, Italy and Spain have been added to the list. Meanwhile, the British press discusses the trip to Greece by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s father, Stanley Johnson, despite general advice from authorities to continue to avoid non-essential travel. Britain currently has no direct air links with Greece, as decided by the Greek authorities, and these will not be restored before mid-July. When asked by journalists to comment on the situation, Boris Johnson asked them to contact his father directly, who in turn told the Daily Mail that he was flying on a very important mission – to check that the accommodation he had rented in Greece was safe from Covid-19 and ready to receive tourists.
Authorities in Austria report a surge in infections. There are 787 active cases, up from 470 a week ago. In the state of Upper Austria, several schools have been closed and about 1400 people have been quarantined, including all the parishioners of a church.
Authorities in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, are taking additional measures to contain the epidemic, including a curfew starting at 23:00. An increase in the number of infected cases has been observed here. Over the past day, more than 350 cases have been registered.
The epidemiological situation in Belgrade has deteriorated again. The city is famous for its nightclubs, which can accommodate up to 500 people. Currently, up to 100 people can gather indoors, with mandatory social distancing and wearing of medical masks. The mayor of Belgrade said there was no need to quarantine the city. But Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic warned he would close the city for a week if it were up to him, the BBC’s Guy Delaney reports from the Serbian capital. Vucic said Belgrade accounts for four-fifths of all coronavirus cases in Serbia.
A sharp increase in the number of cases has been reported in Israel, where the number of new cases is approaching mid-April levels – the worst since the epidemic began. In the past day, more than 1100 people have become ill in the country. Authorities have reimposed a ban on mass events and gatherings in public places. A partial quarantine was imposed in the cities of Ashdod and Lod. In total, Covid-19 has been diagnosed in 27.6 thousand people in Israel, 326 people have died.
The Palestinian authorities in the West Bank have once again imposed a complete closure on their territory. Movement between towns and settlements is restricted, and most businesses will be closed for the next five days. In the past 24 hours, 70 new cases of the disease have been detected in PA, and 11 people have been admitted to intensive care in critical condition.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has implemented a mandatory mask policy in public places throughout the state. Texas, along with California and Florida, has become the epicenter of the spread of infection in the United States over the past week. The country leads the world in the number of people infected and the number of deaths – 2.7 million and 128.7 thousand, respectively. Every day, an average of 40,000 new diagnoses are made there, and in the past 24 hours, a record number of infected people have been registered – over 53,000.
The situation is also worrying in India, where more than 20,000 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the past day. The most affected states are Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu in the southern part of the country.
In terms of the number of infected people, India will soon surpass Russia to take third place in the world after the United States and Brazil. In total, about 625,000 people in India have been infected, with more than 18,000 deaths. If the daily rate of infection does not decrease, India will surpass Russia in the number of infected people in a few days and move up to third place in the world.
New Zealand has closed its borders again, entry is only possible with a valid reason and special permission. Entry to neighboring Australia is not as restricted, but all incoming travelers must have a special visa, which can be obtained online, as well as a medical certificate or negative Covid-19 test results.
In South Korea, 63 cases have been reported in the past 24 hours, the highest number in the past two weeks. In May-June, there were no new cases of the disease in the country for a long time, and the authorities consider the new surge as a serious deterioration of the situation. In total, nearly 13,000 people have been infected with the coronavirus in South Korea since the beginning of the epidemic, and 282 have died.
North Korea continues to claim that there have been no cases of Covid-19 in the country. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has called this a stunning success, and the credit goes to the authorities. But international medical experts say Pyongyang’s data is far from reality.