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Arizona governor orders closure of bars, nightclubs, gyms and cinemas – as it happened

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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says pandemic is ‘speeding up’; India records 19,459 new cases; Iran records highest daily death toll; China’s military approves vaccine for use on its soldiers. This blog is now closed

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Mon 29 Jun 2020 19.40 EDTFirst published on Sun 28 Jun 2020 19.09 EDT
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Jedidajah Otte
Jedidajah Otte

Here he latest key developments at a glance:

  • The governor of the Arizona announced the closure of bars, gyms, cinemas, waterparks and tubing rentals from Monday for at least 30 days. Events of more than 50 people will also be prohibited, and schools will not open before 17 August.
  • Los Angeles County recorded an “alarming” one-day spike of nearly 3,000 new Covid-19 infections on Monday, taking its total to more than 100,000 cases, public health officials said, warning that hospitals could soon be overwhelmed.
  • Kansas governor Laura Kelly on Monday said that she will sign an executive order requiring that most state residents must wear a mask in public from Friday.
  • New Jersey governor Phil Murphy said on Monday indoor dining will no longer resume on Thursday in the state as previously planned, and will instead be postponed “indefinitely.”
  • Mexico is in talks with the Chinese government and private Chinese laboratories, as well as the University of Oxford and company AstraZeneca about trialing an experimental Covid-19 vaccine, a senior Mexican official said on Monday.
  • Brazil registered 692 new coronavirus deaths on Monday, bringing the overall death toll in the country to 58,314.Total confirmed cases rose by 24,052 to reach 1,368,195.
  • Britain on Monday reimposed lockdown measures the city of Leicester after a local surge in infections, in the first big test of prime minister Boris Johnson’s “whack-a-mole” strategy to control the disease while getting the economy moving again.
  • Senegal’s president Macky Sall on Monday said he had decided to lift a state of emergency over Covid-19 to support the struggling economy, which he warned could grow less than 1.1% this year due to fallout from the epidemic.
  • Canada’s president Justin Trudeau said the country is over the worst of the coronavirus outbreak but a spike in cases in the United States and elsewhere shows Canadians must remain vigilant as the economy reopens.
  • The number of reported new cases in Ireland has begun to increase in a “worrying” trend, the chief medical officer warned, which could halt plans for further easing of restrictions.
  • Abu Dhabi will allow people to enter the emirate if they have tested negative for coronavirus in the previous 48 hours, while mosques in the United Arab Emirates will partially reopen from 1 July.

That’s all from me, handing now over to my colleagues in Australia. Goodnight.

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Arizona governor orders closure of bars, nightclubs, gyms and cinemas

The governor of the US state of Arizona, Doug Ducey, has announced a string of new measures he hopes will curb the spread of coronavirus.

From 8pm local time on Monday, bars, gyms, cinemas, waterparks and tubing rentals will close for at least one month, and organised events of more than 50 people are prohibited.

“This will help relieve stress on our health care system and give time for new transmissions to slow,” Ducey tweeted.

“Arizonans should celebrate the 4th of July responsibly this weekend, including by staying home, avoiding larger gatherings, and wearing a mask if you do go out,” he wrote.

He further announced that he first day of school for in-person learning will be delayed until 17 August, while distance learning can begin before then.

“This delay allows additional time for schools to implement safety precautions, including making available remote learning options,” Ducey said.

A new grant program for long-term care facilities will see facilities receive $10,000 for the purchase of electronic devices to facilitate video conferencing with residents and their families.

“Stay home. Wear a mask. Be responsible,” he urged the public.

We must be clear-eyed. The next few weeks will be hard. But these steps combined with stepped-up compliance with public health guidance can make a difference, and we're grateful to Arizonans for their cooperation.

Stay home.

Wear a mask.

Be responsible. 8/8

— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) June 29, 2020

"Alarming" spike of infections in Los Angeles

Los Angeles County recorded an “alarming” one-day spike of nearly 3,000 new Covid-19 infections on Monday, taking its total to more than 100,000 cases, public health officials said, warning that hospitals could soon be overwhelmed.

Los Angeles and neighboring counties have become a new epicenter in the pandemic as cases and hospitalisations have surged there despite California governor Gavin Newsom’s strict order last week requiring masks in nearly all public spaces.

“The alarming increases in cases, positivity rates and hospitalisations signals that we, as a community, need to take immediate action to slow the spread of Covid-19,” Barbara Ferrer, director of public health for Los Angeles County, said in a statement announcing the sharp upswing.

“Otherwise, we are quickly moving toward overwhelming our healthcare system and seeing even more devastating illness and death,” Ferrer said.

The county reported a single-day record of 2,903 new cases.

California, which on Sunday ordered bars in Los Angeles and six other counties to close, is among several US states including Florida, Texas and Arizona battling a new wave of infections as the nation emerges from weeks of clamp-downs on residents and businesses.

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Mexico is in talks with the Chinese government and private Chinese laboratories, as well as the University of Oxford and company AstraZeneca about trialing an experimental Covid-19 vaccine, a senior Mexican official said on Monday.

The Mexican deputy foreign minister said the country was analysing public and private capacities to mass produce a vaccine, and was in talks about phase 3 coronavirus vaccine trials but had not yet reached a decision, Reuters reports.

Brazil registered 692 new coronavirus deaths on Monday, bringing the overall death toll in the country to 58,314, the Ministry of Health said.

Total confirmed cases rose by 24,052 to reach 1,368,195, the second worst outbreak in the world behind the United States.

Mandatory wearing of masks introduced in Kansas

Kansas governor Laura Kelly on Monday said that she will sign an executive order requiring that most state residents must wear a mask in public in an attempt to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Under the order that will go into effect on Friday, most Kansans must wear masks in stores and shops, and in any place where social distancing of 6 feet (1.83m) cannot be maintained, including outside, her office said in a statement.

Venezuelan medical personnel face increasing risks of being infected with coronavirus due to a lack of protective equipment, an opposition legislator and a health-focused non-government organisation said on Monday.

The OPEC nation, which has been in quarantine since 17 March, is struggling under a hyperinflationary economic crisis that weakened basic services including running water and left many hospitals without basic sanitation.

“In four months of quarantine, hospitals did not receive materials, medical equipment was not repaired, beds were not acquired, ventilators were not installed,” Jose Manuel Olivares, a lawmaker and doctor, said in an online press conference.

Health workers have died “for want of a mask ... for want of gloves,” he said, adding that hospitals have “no water, no power, no medicine.”

The country’s opposition-run congress and Doctors United for Venezuela say six doctors died of Covid-19 between 19 and 28 June in the western state of Zulia, which has emerged as a hot spot for Covid-19.

Doctors United for Venezuela says a nurse also died of the disease during that period.

Official statistics show 5,297 cases and 44 deaths, Reuters reports.

Groups including the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights Watch have expressed doubts about the official figures and the scope of the tests conducted.

A worker from the Transportation Ministry explains proper mask usage to non-compliant pedestrians on a corner of downtown Caracas, Venezuela, on Monday, 29 June, 2020, amid efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus. Photograph: Matias Delacroix/AP
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Senegal lifts state of emergency to protect economy

Senegalese president Macky Sall on Monday said he had decided to lift a state of emergency over Covid-19 to support the struggling economy, which he warned could grow less than 1.1% this year due to fallout from the epidemic.

As recently as January, growth was forecast at 6.8% in 2020, but business activity plummeted after borders closed and a curfew and social distancing rules were imposed to curb the virus, which has infected over 6,600 and killed 108.

“This is the challenge we must now face: to fight to preserve our lives and our health, and to resume all our productive activities to get our economy back on track,” Sall said in a speech to the nation.

The state of emergency and a night-time curfew will be lifted as of Tuesday 2300 local time, and air borders will open from 15 July under certain conditions, he said.

The authorities have already loosened the curfew and allowed inter-regional travel in response to street protests against the measures earlier in June.

Sall said the government was working on an economic support programme to kickstart recovery, Reuters reports.

A High School student at the Lycee Blaise Diagne washes her hands as she arrives for her first day back at school in Dakar on 25 June, 2020. Photograph: John Wessels/AFP/Getty Images

The British government on Monday imposed a lockdown on the city of Leicester, which has a much higher Covid-19 infection rate than anywhere else in the country, in its first major attempt to curb an outbreak with local rather than national measures.

The United Kingdom is in the process of gradually easing its national lockdown, with non-essential shops now open and further relaxation of rules due on 4 July, but Leicester and the surrounding area were told to go into reverse.

Health secretary Matt Hancock said the seven-day infection rate in Leicester was 135 cases per 100,000 people, three times higher than the next highest city, and that Leicester accounted for 10% of all positive cases in the country in the past week.

“Given the growing outbreak in Leicester, we cannot recommend that the easing of the national lockdown due to take place on the 4th of July happens in Leicester,” Hancock said in a statement to parliament.

“From tomorrow, non-essential retail will have to close, and as children have been particularly impacted by this outbreak, schools will also need to close from Thursday,” he said. He said children remained at low risk, but were likely to be spreading the disease.

Hancock urged people to avoid all non-essential travel to and from Leicester and within the city, which is in central England.

A city council worker carries rubbish from a coronavirus testing centre at Spinney Park on 29 June, 2020 in Leicester, England. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Canada is over the worst of the coronavirus outbreak but a spike in cases in the United States and elsewhere shows Canadians must remain vigilant as the economy reopens, prime minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday.

“After a very challenging spring things are continuing to move in the right direction,” Trudeau told a daily briefing.

By contrast, some southern US states are reporting huge jumps in daily cases. Authorities in Mexico, Brazil and Russia are also struggling to control outbreaks.

“What the situation we’re seeing in the United States and elsewhere highlights for us is that even as our economy is reopening, we need to make sure we are continuing to remain vigilant,” Trudeau said.

The province of Alberta, home to the world*s third-largest oil reserves, said it would accelerate a corporate tax cut and invest C$10 billion ($7.31 billion) in infrastructure projects to jump-start its spluttering economy.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau walks to the podium for a news conference outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, on Monday, 29 June, 2020. Photograph: Canadian Press/REX/Shutterstock

Canadian medical officials released their latest forecasts on Monday, showing the number of overall deaths could be between 8,545 and 8,865 by 12 July. The current death toll is 8,522.

The United States and Canada have banned non-essential travel between the two nations. The measures are due to expire on 21 July, and Trudeau said discussions were taking place about what to do next.

He also said Ottawa had the fiscal room to respond if a second wave of the coronavirus struck later this year.

The number of reported new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland has begun to increase in a “worrying” trend, the chief medical officer warned, which could halt plans for further easing of restrictions.

At least six fresh diagnoses were associated with international travel, the government’s top health advisers said, as they reiterated warnings against encouraging overseas tourism too soon.

Some new clusters have been established, and one in the north west of the Republic involved travel links with Iraq, said Tony Holohan, the doctor leading the state’s pandemic response.

“We are starting to see a worrying trend, with the number of reported cases increasing, and some new clusters,” he said.

More than 1.1 million cases were reported globally last week.

The Republic had driven down the number of infections but medical experts have warned against non-essential travel and cautioned young people against ignoring lockdown restrictions or thinking coronavirus was defeated.

There were no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre on Monday.

Ireland has recorded 1,735 Covid-19 related deaths.

Mexico’s finance ministry on Monday announced the extension of several financial sector and housing measures aimed at supporting people and companies hurt by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

In March, finance minister Arturo Herrera said Mexican banks would offer clients deals to defer interest payments and principal on loans. He added that the bank regulator, the CNBV, would give regulatory leeway to banks so they can focus on helping people.

Starting this week Mexico City is allowing the reopening of shops, street markets and sport complexes with limited capacity and hours.

Hotels and restaurants in the capital will reopen at about 30% seating capacity.

Workers disinfect and clean the Zocalo square in Mexico City on 29 June, 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Photograph: Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images

Geneva’s auto show was cancelled this year amid the coronavirus pandemic, and organisers said Monday they were also scrapping the 2021 edition as the auto sector reels from the crisis.

The executive committee of the foundation that runs the Geneva International Motor Show, a major event on the auto industry calendar, said that after polling exhibitors, it had given up the idea to organise a 2021 edition, Agence France-Presse reports.

“A majority of exhibitors have said they probably will not participate in a 2021 edition and that they would prefer taking part in a 2022 edition,” a statement said.

The GIMS Foundation noted the auto sector was “currently facing a major crisis, and the exhibitors need time to be able to invest in the show.”

The annual Geneva International Motor Show was cancelled earlier this year amid the coronavirus pandemic, and organisers said were also scrapping the 2021 edition as the auto industry reels from the crisis. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

Abu Dhabi will allow people to enter the emirate if they have tested negative for coronavirus in the previous 48 hours, the local government media office said on Monday.

Abu Dhabi, the largest and wealthiest member of the United Arab Emirates federation, has had a ban on people entering since 2 June.

It eased some restrictions a week ago to allow movement between its cities for residents.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates will partially reopen mosques across the country starting 1 July, with a reduced capacity of 30%, the spokesperson of the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority said on Monday.

Saif Al Dhaheri said that mosques will remain closed for Friday prayers, but some will be open at other times while those located in industrial areas, shopping malls and public parks will stay closed for now, Reuters reports.

New Jersey governor Phil Murphy said on Monday indoor dining will no longer resume on Thursday in the state as previously planned, and will instead be postponed “indefinitely.”

“After Covid-19 spikes in other states driven by, in part, the return of indoor dining, we have decided to postpone indoor dining indefinitely,” Murphy said.

In a series of Tweets, Murphy urged the public to not become complacent, practice social distancing, wash hands and wear face coverings.

If we can prevent just one more family from having to live through the grief of losing someone to #COVID19, than it will be worth it.

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) June 29, 2020

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