Country, Other	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths
World	25,892,082	+259,995	860,323
USA	6,257,571	+41,979	188,900
Brazil	3,952,790	+41,889	122,681
India	3,766,108	+78,169	66,460
Russia	1,000,048	+4,729	17,299
Peru	657,129	+5,092	29,068
South Africa	628,259	+1,218	14,263
Colombia	624,069	+8,901	20,052
Mexico	599,560	+3,719	64,414
Spain	470,973	+8,115	29,152
Argentina	428,239	+10,504	8,919
Chile	413,145	+1,419	11,321
Iran	376,894	+1,682	21,672
UK	337,168	+1,295	41,504
Saudi Arabia	316,670	+898	3,929
Bangladesh	314,946	+1,950	4,316
Pakistan	296,149	+300	6,298
France	286,007	+4,982	30,661
Turkey	271,705	+1,572	6,417
Italy	270,189	+978	35,491
Germany	246,001	+1,209	9,381
Iraq	238,338	+3,404	7,123
Philippines	224,264	+3,483	3,597
Indonesia	177,571	+2,775	7,505
Canada	129,425	+477	9,132
Ukraine	123,294	+2,079	2,605
Qatar	118,994	+216	198
Israel	118,538	+1,942	957
Bolivia	116,598	+630	5,027
Ecuador	114,309	+542	6,571
Kazakhstan	105,872	+77	1,588
Egypt	99,115	+176	5,440
Dominican	94,979	+264	1,738
Panama	93,552	+570	2,018
Romania	88,593	+1,053	3,681
Oman	85,928	+206	689
Kuwait	85,811	+702	534
Belgium	85,236	+194	9,895
China	85,058	+10	4,634
Sweden	84,521	+142	5,813
Guatemala	74,893	+819	2,778
Belarus	71,962	+119	686
Netherlands	71,129	+462	6,230
UAE	70,805	+574	384
Japan	68,392	+527	1,296
Poland	67,922	+550	2,058
Morocco	63,781	+1,191	1,184
Honduras	61,014	+840	1,873
Portugal	58,243	+231	1,824
Singapore	56,852	+40	27
Nigeria	54,247	+239	1,023
Ethiopia	53,304	+1,173	828
Bahrain	52,440	+468	190
Venezuela	47,756	+1,028	391
Algeria	44,833	+339	1,518
Ghana	44,460	+162	276
Kyrgyzstan	43,958	+60	1,059
Armenia	43,878	+97	881
Costa Rica	42,184	+897	443
Uzbekistan	42,127	+234	323
Nepal	40,529	+1,069	239
Moldova	37,208	+288	1,008
Azerbaijan	36,578	+143	536
Kenya	34,315	+114	577
Serbia	31,482	+76	715
Ireland	29,025	+214	1,777
Austria	27,642	+204	734
El Salvador	25,820	+91	724
Australia	25,819	+73	657
Czechia	25,117	+499	425
Palestine	23,281	+552	159
S. Korea	20,182	+235	324
Cameroon	19,409	+267	414
Paraguay	18,338	+676	348
Ivory Coast	18,103	+36	117
Lebanon	17,777	+469	171
Denmark	17,084	+99	625
Bulgaria	16,454	+188	642
Madagascar	14,957	+94	195
Libya	14,624	+658	242
North Macedonia	14,455	+114	604
Senegal	13,655	+44	284
Sudan	13,189	+0	823
Zambia	12,381	+284	290
Norway	10,871	+89	264
Greece	10,524	+207	271
Croatia	10,414	+145	187
DRC	10,104	+7	259
Albania	9,606	+93	290
Malaysia	9,354	+14	128
French Guiana	9,154	+39	60
Tajikistan	8,619	+36	68
Finland	8,142	+56	336
Maldives	8,003	+199	29
Namibia	7,692	+142	81
Luxembourg	6,702	+25	124
Zimbabwe	6,559	+62	203
Hungary	6,257	+118	616
Malawi	5,576	+10	175
Montenegro	4,917	+82	102
Hong Kong	4,823	+12	90
Nicaragua	4,668	+174	141
Eswatini	4,618	+41	94
Rwanda	4,142	+79	16
Suriname	4,089	+55	72
Cuba	4,065	+33	95
Slovakia	3,989	+72	33
Thailand	3,417	+5	58
Slovenia	2,924	+41	133
Aruba	2,104	+98	10
New Zealand	1,752	+14	22
Cyprus	1,490	+2	21
Vietnam	1,044	+0	34

 

Retrieved from:  https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

 

 

 

The pandemic has pushed Australia into recession for the first time in nearly 30 years

From CNN's Laura He and Angus Watson

 

A 'closing down' sign fills the window of a homewares store in Melbourne, Australia, on September 1. Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The coronavirus pandemic has officially pushed Australia into its first economic recession in nearly three decades.

The country's GDP contracted 7% in the second quarter compared to the prior one, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said Wednesday.

It marks the second straight quarter of declines for Australia --- GDP shrank 0.3% in the first quarter --- and the largest drop since records began in 1959. It was also worse than the estimated 5.9% drop expected in a poll of analysts by Refinitiv.

Authorities attributed the fall to the pandemic and shutdown measures the country has taken to contain it, though Australia had already been wrangling with issues before then.

In the most recent quarter, the closures of hotels, restaurants and other services because of the pandemic clearly took a hit: Household consumption plunged more than 12%, while spending on services cratered nearly 18%.

"We have done everything possible to cushion the blow for the Australian community from Covid-19," Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in Canberra on Wednesday. "Our priority has and will continue to be saving lives and ensuring that Australia's healthcare system has the capacity to test and to trace and to treat coronavirus cases."

 

 

Night curfew to be imposed in Havana for first time as coronavirus cases surge again 

From CNN's Patrick Oppmann in Havana

 

Cuban police patrol the streets of Havana during a curfew imposed to contain the resurgence of Covid-19, on September 1. Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images

For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit Cuba, Havana residents will face a nightly curfew and will not be allowed to travel to other provinces, the city's mayor said.

Cuban authorities have struggled to control a second wave of coronavirus outbreak in Havana, just weeks after they had said the spread of the virus was all but defeated on the island.

The curfew, from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m., starts Tuesday evening local time. It will last for at least 15 days, said Gov. Reinaldo Garcia Zapata.

He added that the new restrictions will also increase penalties on people not wearing a mask, and ban the consumption of alcohol in public.

Cuba has recorded a total of 3,806 coronavirus cases and 92 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

 

 

More than 25,000 coronavirus cases in 37 states reported at colleges and universities

From CNN's Annie Grayer

 

Schools are reopening -- and the virus is spreading across US college campuses.

At least 37 states are reporting positive Covid-19 cases at colleges or universities, making a total of more than 25,000 cases among students and campus staff.

The states are:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

 

 

The "northern wall" built between the US and Canada during Covid-19 could stay up longer than anyone expected

From CNN's Paula Newton

 

There were no bricks and mortar, no fencing or cement, no cross-border diplomatic skirmish, just two government orders. And that was enough to essentially shut down the world's longest international border for visitors.

When the United States and Canada mutually agreed in March to shut down the border to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, no one predicted it would be closed this long. There is still no specified date for its reopening, although trade has continued between the countries.

"There's a closeness that we're definitely missing, but I can tell you not anyone that I have spoken to here wants that border opened anytime soon. We miss you citizens of the US, but we're not comfortable opening the border," Bernadette Clement, the mayor of Cornwall, Ontario, said in an interview with CNN.

East to west for thousands of miles, in communities on both sides of the international divide, the border closure is redefining not just economic relationships, but personal lives, in ways no one expected.

"This really is going to have a long-term impact on our communities, economically, socially and on all the things that are really important to us," said Tim Currier, the mayor of Massena, New York, a "sister" community to Cornwall, just a few miles across the border on the other side of the St. Lawrence River.

No longer. The border is shut tight for any trips that are deemed "non-essential" or discretionary and that includes all recreation and tourism.

 

Retrieved from: https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-09-02-20-intl/index.html

 

 

Coronavirus: India sees nearly two million cases in August

 

India has reported nearly two million Covid-19 cases in August, the highest monthly tally in the world since the pandemic began.

August was also the worst month for fatalities with 28,000 virus deaths.

With 3.6 million confirmed cases, India has the third-highest caseload in the world, after the US and Brazil.

The government continues to lift restrictions to try to boost an economy that lost millions of jobs because of a strict lockdown which began in March.

In August, India saw an average of 64,000 cases per day - an 84% hike from average daily cases in July, according to official data.

This number is the highest in the world - for example, the US, which has the most number of cases, saw 47,000 daily cases on average last month.

The spike in numbers comes as the country expands its testing amid concerns that the virus has started to spread in many rural areas as well.

A sudden upsurge in new cases in four states - Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa (Odisha) - has prompted the federal government to deploy teams there, local media reported.

Maharashtra, the epicentre of the outbreak in India, continues to lead the pack with nearly 800,000 confirmed cases.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-53981828

 

 

U.S. to send millions of rapid COVID-19 tests to states to support school reopenings

Thomson Reuters · Posted: Sep 01, 2020 8:55 AM ET | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

 

A science teacher uses a thermometer to check a student's temperature at a high school on July 14, 2020 in Wylie, Texas. (LM Otero/The Associated Press)

 

The U.S. government said on Tuesday it will send an "overwhelming majority" of the rapid COVID-19 tests it purchased from Abbott Laboratories last week to governors of states and territories to support school reopenings and other critical tasks.

Other top priorities for the newly purchased tests include daycare centres, first responders and "critical infrastructure," according to Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir.

The U.S. government purchased 150 million rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 from Abbott in a roughly $750 million deal.

The tests will be distributed in collaboration with Abbott beginning in mid-September, Giroir said. Abbott said last week it will ramp up production to around 50 million tests per month by mid-October.

The portable tests can deliver results within 15 minutes and will sell for $5. They require no additional equipment and can use a less invasive nasal swab than traditional lab tests.

Antigen tests are cheaper and faster than molecular diagnostic tests but are somewhat more likely to fail to identify positive cases of the virus than lab-based diagnostic tests.

Ford says he won't hesitate to close schools if needed as Ontario sees 114 new COVID-19 cases

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for schools to reopen, but most of the country's largest school districts — including in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and Houston — have said they would start the school year with online classes, as states across the country have battled a spike in cases over the summer.

New York City has delayed the start of its school year by several days to give teachers more time to prepare for having students back in classrooms, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.

In a deal struck with unions representing teachers, staff and administrators, instruction that was supposed to begin on Sept. 10 will be delayed until Sept. 16. All students will spend the first few days learning from home via computer before in-person instruction begins for some students Sept. 21.

Fake body bags and coffins are seen near the entrance of the United Federation of Teachers building in New York City as a symbol of students dying from COVID-19 as people take part in a rally during the National Day of Resistance to schools re-opening in New York City on Aug. 3, 2020. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

Among the other safety measures being instituted will be a medical monitoring program that includes random virus testing for a sampling of both students and staff each month.

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said the union's independent medical experts had signed off on the reopening plan.

"We can now say that New York City's public school system has the most aggressive policies and greatest safeguards of any school system in the United States of America," he said.

New York suffered the deadliest coronavirus spike in the country before getting the virus' spread in check in late spring, even as it climbed anew in many other parts of the country.

The city's plan to restart schools includes mask-wearing, staggered schedules to reduce the number of students in rooms, supplying every school building with a nurse and asking all staffers to get tested shortly before school starts.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/coronavirus-covid19-world-sept1-1.5707422

 

 

Half of those in Victoria with Covid symptoms aren't getting tested, as state records 90 new cases

Matilda Boseley

Wed 2 Sep 2020 05.28 BST

 

Half of all symptomatic Victorians still aren’t volunteering for testing, according to Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton.

Victoria recorded 90 news cases on Wednesday, bringing the state’s seven-day average under 100. This was an increase from Tuesday’s 70 cases, but Wednesdays have been known to record high number, in part due to the batching of results from laboratories.

Six more Victorians died in the last 24 hours, all linked to aged care outbreaks.

New South Wales recorded 17 new cases. The Sydney CBD cluster continued to grow, with eight new cases linked on Wednesday, bringing the total to 49.

Another six cases were linked to St Paul’s Catholic College in Greystanes in western Sydney. As of Wednesday there were 10 cases associated with the outbreak, including six children and four household contacts, including a student at Girraween public school. The source of infection was still under investigation and both schools were closed for cleaning.

Of the new NSW cases, one was a returned traveller, 15 were linked to known cases and one was locally acquired with no known source.

In Victoria, Sutton said only half of those with Covid-19 symptoms were getting tested despite health officials repeatedly urging those with even the mildest sore throat or runny nose to come forward.

Sutton said the figured was based ongoing surveys that form part of a “national flu surveillance” program.

He said the state’s focus needed to be on getting these people to come forward rather than extending programs to test the non-symptomatic public.

He provided some clarification for the threshold at which point someone should isolate and present for testing.

“There will be some people where it is a running nose for a short time in the morning, a couple of sneezes [that] totally resolves after minutes. Then there is no ongoing symptoms, no cough or fever or headaches or fatigue. That doesn’t require testing,” he said.

He said everyone who has ongoing symptoms should get tested, even if they think it is their hay fever.

The premier, Daniel Andrews, announced on Tuesday that the state of disaster declared in order to impose stage four lockdowns, would be extended by 11 days until 12 September.

State of disaster declarations must be imposed four weeks at a time and this extension brings it to the notional end date of stage four.

The state of disaster will now end the same day as the current state of emergency which will allow them to be extended simultaneously.

“I just want to caution that doesn’t necessarily mean that either the state of emergency or the state of disaster will automatically come off on the 13th,” Andrews said.

“The state of emergency essentially are the rules … the state of disaster provides for the appropriate enforcement of those rules. Under the state of disaster, if a party was going on at a house, the powers for police to enter and deal with those issues, they are derived from the state of disaster.”

Victorian will learn if stage four lockdowns will be extended on Sunday when Andrews outlines the roadmap out of the pandemic for metropolitan and rural Victoria.

Covid-19 numbers in rural Victoria have continued to drop, with only 125 active cases. Geelong now has 40 actives cases, Bendigo has eight and Ballarat has five.

There are now 1,177 active cases in aged care homes, made up of 97 active outbreaks. There are 35 active infections in disability homes, 23 among staff and 12 among residents.

Queensland recorded two new cases in the last 24 hours, both linked to known cases.

“One is a female healthcare worker in her 30s who is a household contact of a previous confirmed case,” the Queensland health minister, Steven Miles, said on Wednesday.

“The other is a student at Staines Memorial College.”

This is the third case at the Ipswich school.

The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, brushed aside criticism from interstate political rivals about her willingness to host the AFL grand final.

The Gabba in Brisbane was confirmed on Wednesday as the host for this year’s AFL showpiece over Perth’s Optus Stadium and the Adelaide Oval.

The NSW deputy premier, John Barilaro, said it was hypocritical for Queensland to close borders over concerns about Covid-19 in NSW, yet let in hundreds of AFL officials from the declared virus hotspot of Victoria.

He claimed the border closure was hurting NSW residents who needed healthcare in Queensland.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/02/half-of-those-in-victoria-with-covid-symptoms-arent-getting-tested-as-state-records-90-new-cases