Countries around the world appear to be taking different approaches to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. A growing number of people including health professionals are raising concerns over the validity of using lockdowns and over-strict restrictions that are seriously affecting businesses, employment and the economy in the affected countries.
The following are brief insights into aspects of the crisis.
- Nearly 37 million cases –
The novel coronavirus has killed at least 1,069,029 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Saturday.
At least 36,934,770 cases of coronavirus have been registered. Of these, at least 25,530,500 are now considered recovered.
The United States is the worst-hit country with 213,795 deaths from 7,665,150 cases, followed by Brazil with 149,639 deaths from 5,055,888 cases, India with 107,416 deaths from 6,979,423 cases, Mexico with 83,507 deaths from 809,751 cases, and United Kingdom with 42,679 deaths from 575,679 cases.
- Czech cases spike –
The Czech Republic faces the prospect of a lockdown as the growth in Covid-19 cases reach a fourth straight daily record.
The health ministry says the country of 10.7 million people had 8,618 new cases on Friday, beating Thursday's record of 5,394 and bringing the total tally to 109,374 cases with 905 deaths.
- Germany, Poland tighten curbs –
Germany and Poland enforce new restrictions to contain the spread of the virus.
Bars and restaurants will now close at 23:00 pm in Berlin until October 31 in a partial curfew, a measure already imposed an hour earlier in the financial capital Frankfurt.
Measures in the German capital -- with more than 400 new cases daily -- would also affect all shops except pharmacies and petrol stations, which would be banned from selling alcohol.
In neighbouring Poland, people will have to wear face masks in all public spaces after coronavirus cases hit a new record daily high of 4,280.
- Trump returns to fray –
US President Donald Trump will address supporters in Florida on Monday at his first rally since testing positive for Covid-19.
He will also give a public speech at the White House on Saturday on his favoured theme of "law and order", giving him an opportunity to dispel lingering doubts about his health.
- More French cities under alert –
Four more French cities in the north and east -- Lyon, Grenoble, Saint-Etienne and Lille -- come under maximum alert like the capital Paris, Aix-Marseille and the overseas territory of Guadeloupe.
In these places, bars are closed and restaurants have to take additional safety measures that include a minimum distance between tables and registering clients' addresses to alert them if any fellow diners end up testing positive.
There are also limits on public gatherings.
- N.Korea says no virus cases –
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presides over a giant military parade in Pyongyang.
State broadcaster KCTV shows company after company of armed soldiers marching through Kim Il Sung square in a night-time display, with Kim smiling and joking with his generals.
Kim says "not a single person" in the North had contracted the coronavirus.
- Iran imposes fines for breaches –
Iran will impose fines for breaches of health regulations in the capital Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani announces.
Iran has previously held back from using fines to enforce mask wearing in public and other health protocols, but they will now be imposed.
The police, the Basij paramilitary force and health inspectors will have powers to impose the fines, which range from 500,000 rials ($1.60) for not wearing a mask to a maximum of 10 million ($32.80) for businesses not observing health protocols.
- EU commissioner positive –
EU commissioner for research and innovation Mariya Gabriel tests positive for Covid-19, the first top Brussels official known to have caught the coronavirus.
The commission's president Ursula von der Leyen on Monday briefly went into self-isolation after a close contact with a positive case, but her two tests came back negative.
- UK cyclist has Covid –
British rider Simon Yates withdraws from the Giro d'Italia three weeks cycling race after testing positive for Covid-19.
He becomes the first rider to test positive at a Grand Tour although four cases were found among team members -- none of them competitors -- during the Tour de France.
AFP
