Country, Other	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths
World	31,769,782	+276,367	974,760
USA	7,097,937	+35,696	205,471
India	5,640,496	+80,391	90,021
Brazil	4,595,335	+35,252	138,159
Russia	1,115,810	+6,215	19,649
Colombia	777,537	+7,102	24,570
Peru	776,546	+3,650	31,586
Mexico	700,580	+2,917	73,697
Spain	682,267	+10,799	30,904
South Africa	663,282	+1,346	16,118
Argentina	652,174	+12,027	13,952
France	468,069	+10,008	31,416
Chile	448,523	+1,055	12,321
Iran	429,193	+3,712	24,656
UK	403,551	+4,926	41,825
Bangladesh	352,178	+1,557	5,007
Saudi Arabia	330,798	+552	4,542
Iraq	327,580	+4,724	8,682
Pakistan	306,886	+582	6,424
Turkey	306,302	+1,692	7,639
Italy	300,897	+1,392	35,738
Philippines	291,789	+1,635	5,049
Germany	277,176	+1,625	9,491
Indonesia	252,923	+4,071	9,837
Israel	193,374	+2,445	1,285
Ukraine	181,237	+2,884	3,642
Canada	146,663	+1,248	9,234
Bolivia	130,986	+310	7,654
Ecuador	127,643	+932	11,126
Qatar	123,917	+313	211
Romania	114,648	+1,059	4,503
Dominican	109,269	+486	2,064
Kazakhstan	107,374	+67	1,699
Panama	107,284	+474	2,285
Morocco	105,346	+2,227	1,889
Belgium	103,392	+1,097	9,950
Egypt	102,254	+113	5,806
Kuwait	100,683	+719	588
Netherlands	98,240	+2,245	6,291
Oman	94,711	+660	865
Sweden	89,436	+1199	5,870
Guatemala	86,623	+942	3,137
UAE	86,447	+852	405
China	85,297	+6	4,634
Poland	80,699	+711	2,316
Japan	79,438	+298	1,508
Belarus	76,104	+206	791
Honduras	72,075	+459	2,204
Ethiopia	70,422	+713	1,127
Portugal	69,663	+463	1,925
Venezuela	68,453	+1,010	564
Costa Rica	66,689	+1,087	760
Nepal	66,632	+1,356	429
Bahrain	66,402	+650	227
Singapore	57,627	+21	27
Nigeria	57,613	+176	1,100
Czechia	53,158	+2,394	531
Uzbekistan	52,685	+615	442
Algeria	50,214	+191	1,689
Armenia	47,667	+115	938
Moldova	47,446	+650	1,230
Ghana	46,062	+58	297
Kyrgyzstan	45,542	+71	1,063
Azerbaijan	39,378	+98	578
Austria	39,303	+645	771
Kenya	37,218	+139	659
Palestine	36,580	+429	269
Paraguay	34,828	+568	705
Ireland	33,444	+323	1,792
Serbia	32,999	+61	743
Lebanon	30,852	+865	315
Libya	29,446	+650	460
El Salvador	27,954	+156	814
Australia	26,942	+30	854
Denmark	23,799	+476	641
S. Korea	23,106	+61	388
Hungary	19,499	+633	694
Ivory Coast	19,343	+16	120
Bulgaria	19,123	+109	767
North Macedonia	16,867	+87	705
Madagascar	16,136	+63	226
Greece	15,928	+333	352
Croatia	15,136	+144	255
Senegal	14,759	+21	302
Zambia	14,389	+214	331
Sudan	13,578	+23	836
Norway	13,153	+148	267
Albania	12,666	+131	367
Tunisia	11,260	+528	164
Namibia	10,607	+81	116
DRC	10,523	+4	271
Malaysia	10,358	+82	130
Maldives	9,818	+48	34
French Guiana	9,738	+26	65
Tajikistan	9,432	+44	73
Finland	9,195	+149	341
Montenegro	9,138	+296	146
Luxembourg	8,016	+100	124
Zimbabwe	7,711	+5	226
Mozambique	7,114	+202	45
Slovakia	6,931	+175	40
Myanmar	6,743	+592	115
Uganda	6,712	+244	64
Malawi	5,739	+6	179
Jordan	5,679	+634	33
Eswatini	5,307	+25	106
Jamaica	5,270	+127	75
Cuba	5,222	+81	117
Nicaragua	5,073	+112	149
Hong Kong	5,047	+8	103
CAR	4,802	+16	62
Suriname	4,759	+19	100
Rwanda	4,738	+16	27
Slovenia	4,558	+88	142
Guadeloupe	4,487	+1,061	42
Angola	4,236	+119	155
Trinidad and Tobago	4,026	+81	65
Georgia	3,913	+218	23
Syria	3,877	+44	178
Lithuania	3,859	+45	87
Aruba	3,665	+78	25
Gambia	3,540	+14	110
Thailand	3,511	+5	59
Bahamas	3,467	+49	77
New Zealand	1,815	+9	25
Cyprus	1,618	+15	22

 

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

 

 

 

Israel reports nearly 7,000 new Covid-19 cases in highest single-day spike

From CNN’s Oren Liebermann

 

Israel reported 6,861 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, surging past the previous daily high of 5,523 new infections set last week.

The new daily high in recorded cases comes as Israel’s government considers imposing tighter restrictions during the country’s second general lockdown, including limitations on prayer and protests, and scaling back work in the public and private sector.

Israel imposed the lockdown last Friday as it tried to curtail the rising number of cases throughout the country, but critics said the restrictions have too many loopholes and exceptions to adequately stop the spread of the virus.

 

 

Analysis: Trump again minimizes the pandemic as officials warn of a fall surge

Analysis from CNN's Stephen Collinson

 

A new clash between Donald Trump's political goals and his duties to public health threatens to deprive America of presidential leadership in the critical weeks that will decide if a second wave of Covid-19 swamps the country this winter.

As the US death toll from the pandemic passed 200,000, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Tuesday that he was worried that the high base level of infections could make it difficult to keep the virus under control in the colder months.

While the government's top infectious diseases specialist, who has been marginalized by Trump, said serious trouble was not "inevitable," he added at the Citizen by CNN conference that "it's not acceptable to not realize that we are entering into a risk period and we've got to act accordingly."

Fauci spoke while medical indicators head in a perilous direction as the US approaches its 7 millionth infection. Cases are rising in 24 states, Washington, DC, and two territories. Wisconsin's Gov. Tony Evers warned Tuesday of a "new and dangerous stage" of the pandemic in the crucial swing state, where Trump held a rally last week. And there are now more than 59,000 cases of coronavirus on college campuses after many schools decided to open despite adopting insufficient safety measures.

Notre Dame canceled its football game on Saturday against Wake Forest after seven Fighting Irish players tested positive for the virus. The move comes just a week after Trump claimed he had orchestrated the return of football for many of Notre Dame's Midwest (and battleground state) neighbors in the Big Ten conference.

But there is no visible sign of concern from the White House about this potential pivot point on which thousands of lives may depend. That may be because it coincides with the moment of highest tension in a presidential race in which the President is trying to convince voters that the worst of the emergency has passed.

"I think we've done an amazing job ... in my opinion we're rounding the turn," the President said in an interview with a local Fox station in Detroit in which he continued to minimize the danger. On Monday, he had claimed the virus "affects virtually nobody" -- a staggering comment on the eve of such a tragic milestone.

 

 

Saudi Arabia plans to gradually resume Umrah pilgrimage from next month

From CNN’s Sharif Paget in Atlanta

 

In this June 14, 2018 file photo, Muslim worshippers gather at the Grand Mosque in Islam's holiest city of Mecca as they perform the Umrah, or lesser pilgrimages, during the last week of the month of Ramadan. Bandar Aldandani/AFP/Getty Images

 

Saudi Arabia will allow pilgrims living inside the country to perform the Umrah pilgrimage at a reduced capacity from early next month, after it was suspended earlier this year due to Covid-19 concerns, state news agency SPA reported Tuesday.

Umrah is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that can be undertaken at any time of the year, unlike the Ḥajj, which has specific dates. It is also much smaller than the Hajj.

According to the SPA report, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior said the Kingdom will allow pilgrims to perform Umrah in gradual reopening phases. They will also need to take health precautions.

Two phases: The first phase, which starts on October 4, allows pilgrims to attend Umrah at 30% capacity -- or around 6,000 citizens and residents. The second phase, scheduled for October 18, will increase capacity to 75%.

 

Retrieved from: https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-09-23-20-intl/index.html

 

 

 

With costs up and revenue down for public colleges during coronavirus, one governor has a plan: Refinance

By Susan Svrluga

 

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam offered relief to public colleges and universities in the state Tuesday with a refinancing plan that could save the institutions more than $300 million over the next two years.

With colleges across the country battered by the increased cost of operating during a pandemic, public schools in particular are bracing for government funding cuts that could further damage their finances. By using the state’s AAA bond rating to obtain favorable interest rates, Virginia is using an innovative approach to helping to ease the strain.

Colleges are facing added uncertainty as well as expenses, Northam (D) said Tuesday at George Mason University, where he announced the plan. “But one side effect of the pandemic has potential to help,” he said. “That’s the low interest rates that we are seeing right now.”

 

Retrieved from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/09/23/coronavirus-covid-live-updates-us/

 

 

 

Aid agencies warn of Covid-19 crisis in refugee camps as winter approaches

Martin Chulov Middle East correspondent

 

Displaced populations across the Middle East, already in cramped, unhygienic conditions, face a health catastrophe as infections rise

 

Umm Hussein, 30, a displaced Syrian, makes face masks at a camp for internally displaced people in Idlib province in July. Photograph: Aaref Watad/AFP/Getty Images

 

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic an abiding fear had stalked the world’s most vulnerable populations. Millions of people displaced by conflict in the Middle East watched with alarm as Europe and the west withered under a caseload that stretched first-world healthcare systems to their limits. They saw field hospitals being set up in capitals. Governments buckling under the strain. The developing world offering aid to the developed.

It seemed inevitable that the contagion would reach those less able to absorb its impact. And now, as second and third waves of Covid-19 surge around the globe, worst fears are being realised. Several months into the crisis, the virus has crept into the populations of refugees and internally displaced people, where stopping its advance will be close to impossible. Up to 15 million people across the region, many of whom were already at risk of disease, now face a rampant spread through their communities.

Numbers of infections in camps across Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories have risen sharply throughout September. The spike in cases is beginning to outstrip the surges in those countries far better placed to deal with the aftermath. Cramped living conditions in refugee camps, limited hygiene facilities, medical care and education about the virus’s dangers do not bode well as winter approaches.

The flow-on effects of Covid taking hold are troubling the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR. “This is also causing a poverty pandemic, that will result in serious protection risks,” said Rula Amin, the organisation’s regional communications spokesperson. “People are struggling to feed their children, or to send them to school. Their are issues with early marriage, child labour. There is also an economic crisis, which is plunging deeper and deeper and this will have serious long term effects.“And of course there are widespread health issues with the capacity of host communities already struggling. This capacity will be massively overstretched if this outbreak becomes more prevalent. How will they be able to treat and service such large numbers of cases?”

Amin says the number of regional Covid infections among the refugees it monitors has risen to close to 1,000. The fear is that limited reporting capacity means the real figure is substantially higher.

The alignment of factors has left heads of aid agencies deeply troubled. North-western Syria, where up to 4 million people, many of them internally displaced, are crammed into a corner of a broken country, is seen as one of the most at-risk parts of the world.

“Nearly 10 years of conflict have decimated the health system leaving even basic care out of the reach of many, let alone treatment for Covid,” said Misty Buswell, Middle East policy and advocacy director for the International Rescue Committee. “More than 65% of the population have fled their homes due to the conflict and are living in overcrowded camps and settlements, exposed to the elements, where social distancing is nearly impossible.“With winter arriving in the coming months, it’s urgent to contain the current outbreak and get the situation under control before it reaches catastrophic levels.

“In north-west Syria, cases are increasing dramatically. We fear that this is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the true scale of the problem. Testing capacity is insufficient, and [fewer] than 9,000 tests have been administered to date. But lack of testing is just one of the many challenges people in north-west Syria are facing.”

With aid dollars drying up, and a global response to Covid stretched in all directions, communities have been forced to deal with the response by turning inwards. “We’ve been making masks with sewing machines and sterilising all the tents as often as we can,” said Ibrahim Darwich, an elder in an informal community in Idlib province, just south of the Turkish border. “They tell us the solution is soap, but don’t forget that many people can’t even afford that, let alone being able to isolate if you’re sick. Culturally, it’s a problem to do that anyway.”

Idlib’s camps for internally displaced people account for about 20% of those who had travelled from elsewhere in Syria to the country’s last anti-government stronghold, where hospitals have largely been destroyed over the past five years by Syrian and Russian jets. The rest of the region’s displaced communities are living in informal homes or settlements, where health and wellbeing are much harder to track.

 

Children at a refugee camp near Syria’s border with Turkey in July. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

 

Monitoring remains difficult elsewhere in the region: in Syria’s north-east, where large numbers of Kurds fled a Turkish incursion last October, and across the border in Iraq, where Yazidis remain encamped in the Kurdish north more than six years on from an attempted genocide by Islamic State. Further south, up to 300,000 Mosul residents remain in settlements, prevented from returning to their homes.

In the Palestinian territories, a situation once considered manageable is increasingly a cause for concern.

“Until July, we had [fewer] than 200 reported cases of Covid-19 among Palestine refugees in the region: West Bank, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan,” said UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini. “Today we have over 7,800 confirmed cases among Palestine refugees and nearly 800 deaths. These communities are economically vulnerable and politically and socially marginalised. Many live hand-to-mouth and are daily-paid workers. We now regularly hear from Palestine refugees that they would rather catch corona than die of hunger. Their vulnerability is very acute.”

UNHCR says the over-the-horizon effects of the pandemic are likely to be acute. According to Amin, “50% of refugee girls are at risk of not returning to school”. She adds: “There is a high level of awareness among refugees about trying to do everything possible to avoid catching this virus. People understand what’s at stake here, but there are real challenges in overcrowded places. There is a problem with the testing capacities and protective gear, capacity of hospitals, proper nutrition.”

Suha Najjar, a displaced Iraqi north of Mosul, said her husband had become infected in July and was taken to a regional hospital. “If he stayed, I would have been infected with him, and gladly,” she said. “Separating families is worse than dying together.”

 

Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/sep/23/aid-agencies-warn-of-covid-19-crisis-in-refugee-camps-as-winter-approaches

 

 

Summary

Here’s a quick recap of the latest coronavirus developments from the last few hours:

· Pubs and restaurants across England to be forced to shut at 10pm. Pubs, bars and restaurants in England will have to shut by 10pm from Thursday under new nationwide restrictions to halt an “exponential” rise in coronavirus cases. Police have also been handed powers to issue £1,000 fines and make arrests to enforce 2 metre social distancing in pubs and restaurants, the Guardian has learned.

· Fears over second Covid lockdown wipes £50bn off FTSE 100. Shares in London have had their worst losses in more than three months amid fears that a second wave of coronavirus cases will force the government into harsh lockdown measures that will damage the economy.

· London mayor to propose new Covid-19 restrictions for capital. Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said he has agreed with local council leaders and public health experts a plan to put to the central government for new Covid-19 restrictions to stem the spread of the virus in the capital.

· 156 countries agree to Covid vaccine allocation deal. A coalition of 156 countries has agreed a “landmark” deal to enable the rapid and equitable global distribution of any new coronavirus vaccines to 3% of participating countries’ populations, to protect vulnerable healthcare systems, frontline health workers and those in social care settings.

· Highest rise in Iran since June. The number of coronavirus infections in Iran has risen by 3,341 in the past 24 hours, the highest daily tally since early June, taking total cases to 425,481.

· Madrid opera halted by audience protest over lack of social distancing. A performance of Verdi’s A Masked Ball was abandoned in Madrid on Sunday night after audience members protested over the lack of social distancing measures – especially for those in cheaper seats.

· Vallance: Covid vaccine doses may be available for some by end of year. A few doses of an effective Covid vaccine may be available for use before the end of the year, Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser has said – but it is far more likely that any such breakthrough will happen during the first six months of 2021.

· Colombia’s capital lifts most coronavirus measures but says new outbreak inevitable. Bogotá, the Colombian capital, will lift most of the restrictions implemented to curb the spread of coronavirus, the mayor’s office said, though it warned that a new outbreak in the city of 8 million is inevitable.

 

Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/sep/21/coronavirus-live-news-uk-at-critical-point-in-pandemic-as-us-nears-200000-deaths

 

 

Hands, face, space? Johnson's Covid message has got priorities wrong, scientists warn

Robin McKie

 

Physical distancing, far more than washing hands, is the most critical factor in preventing spread of the virus

Scientists say the biggest risk factor in the spread of Covid-19 is airborne transmission, often in poorly ventilated spaces. Photograph: Guy Bell/Rex/Shutterstock

 

The latest drive to help halt the spread of Covid-19 has been criticised by senior scientists for placing insufficient emphasis on the issues of ventilation and the need to stay apart from others.

They say the government’s “hands, face, space” campaign stresses handwashing and the wearing of masks as key factors in controlling coronavirus transmission, while the need to keep apart has been downplayed, despite it being the single critical factor involved in the spread of Covid-19.

“As long as people keep emphasising handwashing over aerosol transmission and ventilation, you are not going to control this pandemic,” virologist Julian Tang, of Leicester Royal Infirmary, told the Observer.

He pointed to studies that suggest contact is the cause of transmission of the Covid-19 virus in only about 20% of cases while aerosol transmission, often in poorly ventilated rooms, accounted for the rest.

He was backed by the anthropologist Jennifer Cole, at Royal Holloway, University of London, who said the government’s recommendations had been placed in the wrong order.

“Space is the largest mitigating factor in the spread of Covid-19, indoors or outdoors. Wearing a face covering does not make it entirely safe to go within 2 metres of others; keeping your distance is still the best strategy,” she said. “Handwashing is important, but surface transmission plays a much smaller role than exhaled droplets, so it is odd that ‘hands’ has been listed first.”

Cole said this emphasis could lead to unnecessary concern over the likelihood of surface transmission from groceries, mail and other deliveries. At the same time, physical distancing was sometimes difficult in an indoor setting, she acknowledged. If so, people should simply not enter. “They should not just assume that a face covering and washing their hands will protect them if they do.”

This point was also emphasised by Tang. “The only thing that really works against this disease is keeping distant from other people. The trouble is that when a situation looks worrying, for instance on public transport, you can ramp up your precautions.

“The trouble comes when you relax – for example in the pub – and you don’t keep your distance and your friends shout loudly to be heard and the virus gets sprayed about. That is why we are getting outbreaks – because people are not keeping their distance and not applying rules as they might elsewhere.”

The failure to emphasise the critical importance of aerosol transmission was outlined in a letter to the World Health Organization, signed by several hundred scientists earlier this year. “Current guidance from numerous international and national bodies focuses on handwashing, maintaining social distancing, and droplet precautions but … do not recognise airborne transmission except for aerosol-generating procedures in healthcare settings.

“Handwashing and social distancing are appropriate, but in our view, insufficient to provide protection from virus-carrying respiratory microdroplets released into the air by infected people,” the letter states.

The WHO originally placed little importance on aerosol transmission, said Tang, but changed its guidelines in July in response to the letter and now recognises its importance, particularly in poorly ventilated spaces.

“Unfortunately, people are still not getting the message – that is why they have got that hand, face, space message the wrong way round. It should be space first – and by a long stretch. Then think about your hands and face. Until we get that right we are going to continue to be in trouble.”

 

Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/19/scientists-criticise-uks-hands-face-space-campaign-to-control-covid-19-coronavirus