US crosses 50 million COVID cases as Delta dominates amid Omicron emergence

The United States crossed 50 million coronavirus cases on Sunday, according to Reuters tally, as the Delta variant continues to threaten Americans and the newly discovered Omicron variant spreads.

After about two months of declining infections, the United States has reported daily increases for the past two weeks, driven by the more easily transmitted Delta variant.

States in colder parts of the country are seeing the biggest surge in new infections on a per capita basis, including Vermont, New Hampshire and Michigan.

The number of hospitalized COVID patients is rising as well, up 20% since the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November.

Over the past month, deaths have increased by 4.6%, with the country's death toll surpassed 800,000.

Nearly half of U.S. states have detected cases of the Omicron variant, but the Delta variant still accounts for 99% of current COVID cases, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has said.

For Omicron to be a significant problem, it will need to change that balance to become dominant. 

"If we suddenly start to see 10% of new infections being Omicron, and then it goes up the next week to 20%, that would tell us that we're in a replacement wave such as we saw when Delta replaced Alpha," said John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College.

An analysis of Reuters data shows it took almost a year to reach first 25 million COVID cases and 323 days, less than a year to go from 25 million to 50 million cases.

Laboratory studies released this week suggest that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus will blunt the power of Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine to prevent COVID-19 infection after two doses, although a third dose may restore that protection.

Around 14% of people in the United states, have now received a booster shot. Close to 10 million of those people have gotten the extra shots since the Thanksgiving holiday, with concerns about the Omicron variant.

Pfizer Inc and Merck have developed COVID-19 antiviral drugs that work across all variants, with countries rushing to buy the pills.

Getting vaccinated should still be the priority for Americans but having pills that can keep people out of the hospital "could be a lifesaver," said U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra.

-reuters-

US COVID cases rising rapidly, as Delta dominates

WASHINGTON  - COVID cases are rising rapidly in the United States as the highly contagious Delta variant dominates and vaccinations stagnate, data showed Wednesday.

The seven-day-average of new cases was 13,859 as of July 6, up 21 percent compared to two weeks earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Cases attributed to the most recent days might rise further because of a reporting lag following the July 4 holiday weekend.

The spike comes as the Delta variant, which is more transmissible than any previous strain, accounted for around 52 percent of cases in the two weeks ending July 3, according to the CDC.

Despite having among the highest availability of vaccines of any country, America's immunization campaign has dropped off steeply since April. 

President Joe Biden narrowly missed his goal of having 70 percent adults at least partly vaccinated by Independence Day, with the current figure at 67 percent.

Regions in the Midwest and South with lower vaccination rates are experiencing higher case rates than regions with high vaccination rates such as the Northeast, a trend that has become increasingly clear in recent weeks.

A hospital in Springfield, Missouri, ran out of ventilators to treat hospitalized COVID patients over the weekend, local media reported.

The city of 160,000's two hospitals were treating 213 COVID-19 patients as of Monday, up from 168 on Friday and 31 on May 24, the Kansas City Star said.

"The trajectory that we're likely to see is two different flavors of the pandemic in the United States, one in which it's more of a problem in places where there's a high level of unvaccinated individuals," Amesh Adalja of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security told AFP.

"In other parts of the country, the pandemic is largely going to be something that's managed as more of an ordinary respiratory virus," he added.

Adalja said that even with Delta becoming the dominant strain he envisioned a "decoupling" of hospitalizations and deaths from rising cases in highly vaccinated regions, as has been seen in Israel.

"Increasingly, I think we have to start to shift our focus away from cases and really look at hospitalizations, because that's what the vaccine was designed to do -- it was designed to decouple cases from hospitalization," he said.

Real world data has shown that the Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines have retained high efficacy against severe COVID and the same is almost certainly true of the Moderna vaccine, according to experts.

Agence France-Presse

COVID-19 daily deaths soar to 3,580 in US, as second vaccine nears approval

US coronavirus deaths soared to a daily record of 3,580 and hospitalizations rose for the 19th straight day on Wednesday, ramping up the stakes as regulators on Thursday considered whether to approve a second COVID-19 vaccine.

Another 232,255 cases were reported, the second highest daily case load on record, as California became the first state to report more than 50,000 cases in a single day, according to a Reuters tally.

The United States leads the world with a cumulative 307,767 deaths and nearly 17 million cases as many Americans and the outgoing administration of President Donald Trump have resisted the stay-at-home orders and mask-wearing that have proven effective at controlling the spread.

But more help could be arriving soon with a second vaccine nearing approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.

A panel of outside advisers to the FDA is expected to endorse emergency use of Moderna Inc's coronavirus vaccine on Thursday, one week after the same committee backed the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE.

The FDA authorized emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine a day later, opening the gates to a massive inoculation program that began on Monday.

Some 570 vaccine distribution centers received the initial batch of shipments on Monday and Tuesday, and an additional 886 locations were due to receive vials on Friday, said US Army General Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of the government's Operation Warp Speed campaign.

But the first major storm of the winter season could also disrupt vaccine distribution.

Express delivery companies Federal Express and United Parcel Service had contingency plans to keep any delayed vaccine shipments secure until they can be delivered, Perna told reporters.

With millions of Americans thrown out of work, Congress could soon lend a hand as well.

After months of feuding and with a weekend deadline fast approaching, congressional negotiators haggled over details of a $900 billion COVID-19 aid bill that leaders have vowed to pass before going home this year.

The legislation is expected to include $600 to $700 stimulus checks, extend unemployment benefits, help pay for vaccine distribution and assist small businesses.

-reuters-

US to start vaccinating as Germany returns to partial lockdown

KALAMAZOO, US - The United States prepared to start its Covid-19 vaccination program on Monday as the nation's death toll edged towards 300,000, while Germany announced a partial lockdown over the holidays due to an explosion of cases.

Delivery trucks with special refrigeration equipment rolled out of a facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Sunday as part of a public-private plan to ship millions of doses of the newly approved Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine to vulnerable Americans.

Courier services FedEx and UPS have deployed fleets of trucks and planes to carry their precious cargo -- sometimes under armed guard -- to all 50 states, where healthcare workers and nursing-home residents will be first in line.

"Vaccines are shipped and on their way," President Donald Trump tweeted. "Get well USA. Get well WORLD."

One state governor, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, said that "we now believe that the first individuals will be vaccinated" on Monday -- less than 72 hours after the vaccine received emergency authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration.

An initial 2.9 million doses are set to be delivered by Wednesday, with officials saying 20 million Americans could receive the two-shot regimen by year end, and 100 million by March.

But the breakthrough comes at one of the darkest moments of the pandemic, with infections in the United States and many other countries soaring, and health experts still struggling against vaccine skepticism, lockdown fatigue and uneven adherence to safety rules.

GRIM US DEATH TOLL

The US has the world's highest death toll of more than 299,000, and the largest number of cases, at 16.2 million -- including more than 1.5 million new cases in just the past week.

Worldwide, there have been at least 1.6 million deaths since the outbreak emerged in China last December, and 71.6 million cases overall.

The start of vaccination campaigns this week in the US -- and also Canada -- came as Germany announced a partial lockdown from Wednesday, with non-essential shops and schools to close in a bid to halt an "exponential growth" in infections.

The restrictions, agreed by Chancellor Angela Merkel and regional leaders, will apply through the holidays until January 10. 

Europe's biggest economy has been severely hit by a resurgence of the coronavirus, with daily new infections more than three times their springtime peak. Daily death tolls last week approached 600.

Germany's hardest-hit states had already ordered new measures. Saxony state, where in some areas incidence rates have hit 500 per 100,000 people, will shutter shops and schools from Monday.

Italy, meanwhile, overtook Britain as the European nation with the highest death toll.

"I am worried about the two weeks of Christmas holidays... The battle still has not been won," Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza warned as the country recorded 64,520 deaths, surpassing Britain's 64,267.

Elsewhere, the prime minister of the small African nation of Eswatini died in a South African hospital on Sunday, two weeks after contracting coronavirus.

In Algeria, 75-year-old President Abdelmadjid Tebboune made his first televised appearance since being hospitalized with Covid-19 in October.

"Thanks to God," he said, "I have started on the road to recovery." 

And President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil faced scathing criticism over his government's plan -- or lack thereof -- to vaccinate the population.

Brazil, the country with the world's second-highest death toll, published its vaccination policy on Saturday under pressure from the Supreme Court, but listed no start date or details of how it would secure sufficient doses.

Leading newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, in a scathing front-page editorial, said virus-skeptic Bolsonaro had shown "murderous stupidity."

South Korea -- once seen as a model of how to combat the pandemic -- on Sunday reported 1,030 new coronavirus cases, a record high for a second day in a row.

'DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN'

Even as US health experts welcomed the unprecedented vaccine effort, they cautioned people not to grow lax in observing precautions.

"The next number of weeks are going to be hell, I fear," New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy told ABC's "This Week." 

"So we're begging people to please, please, please don't let your guard down."

UPS and FedEx are to ship glass vials of the vaccine to 636 sites around the country by Wednesday.

Doses are being shipped in boxes containing dry ice that can keep supplies at -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit), the frigid temperature needed to preserve the drug.

Trials have shown the vaccine to be 95 percent effective, and Americans are being told it is safe unless they have an allergy to any of the drug's components.

The US National Security Council said Sunday that senior federal officials will be among those given priority access to keep the government functioning, but Trump later tweeted that government workers should be vaccinated "somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary."

"I am not scheduled to take the vaccine, but look forward to doing so at the appropriate time," he said.

Agence France-Presse

US sets another record for COVID cases in one day: tracker

WASHINGTON - For the third day in a row, the United States on Saturday notched a record number of coronavirus cases in 24 hours, reaching nearly 230,00 new infections, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

In that same stretch the US recorded 2,527 COVID -related deaths, according to real-time data provided by the Baltimore-based university at 8:30 pm (9:30 a.m. Saturday in Manila).

The United States -- the country with the most coronavirus cases and deaths in the world -- has seen a dramatic resurgence in its epidemic in recent weeks.

US health officials warned of a surge after millions of Americans traveled to celebrate last week's Thanksgiving holiday despite pleas from authorities to stay home.

For two weeks, the US has regularly topped 2,000 deaths per day, as it had in the spring at the height of the first wave of the country's outbreak.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is also steadily increasing, especially in the most populous states of California, Florida, New York and Texas, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

The United States has recorded more than 14.6 million COVID cases and more than 281,000 related deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Agence France-Presse

Biden vows immediate, science-based action on virus

WILMINGTON, US - President-elect Joe Biden vowed Saturday immediate action to contain the United States' coronavirus crisis, signaling science would dominate the national response once Donald Trump leaves the White House.

Biden's pledge, in his first national address since defeating Trump, followed three days of record infections in the United States and came as the nation's death toll surpassed 237,000.

Europe's second-wave woes also deepened, with Greece becoming the latest European nation to enter a lockdown on Saturday and Poland introducing new restrictions on people's movement.

In France, where a dramatic increase in infections has heaped pressure on hospitals, 306 new confirmed fatalities took the national death toll above 40,000.

The United States has long been the worst-hit nation.

Critics of Trump have blamed this on his chaotic response, which has seen him discredit the top US infectious disease expert, discourage face masks and speak at crowded campaign rallies.

At Biden's victory event, which took into account social-distancing guidelines, the president-elect announced top scientists would be appointed to his coronavirus task force on Monday.

"On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as transition advisors to help take the Biden-Harris plan and convert it into an actual blueprint that will start on January 20, 2021," Biden told supporters.

Earlier in the day, he had emphasized the urgency he placed on beating the pandemic.

"I want everyone, everyone, to know on day one we're going to put our plan to control this virus into action," Biden said before he had been declared the winner.

Unlike Biden, Trump held massive campaign rallies ahead of the November 3 vote, insisting the US was "rounding the turn" despite the virus surges.

Trump campaigned after contracting the virus himself.

Senior members of his administration have also contracted the virus recently. Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, was the latest to test positive, media said late Friday.

EUROPEAN EPICENTER

Global infections have surged past 49 million, with Europe in recent weeks becoming the new pandemic epicenter.

Under the new measures in Greece, people can only leave home if they make a mobile phone request and receive authorization. 

Essential shops can stay open, including supermarkets and pharmacies.

Hairdressers have also been allowed to stay open, but just for two more days, and they were booked out.

"I want to have my hair done so that what I see in the mirror every morning during lockdown won't cause me sadness," said Petrina, ahead of her Sunday appointment.

The measures follow the imposition of tough restrictions in Italy, France, Ireland and Britain, while Germany and other nations have also imposed new measures.

Britain on Saturday banned entry to all non-resident foreigners coming from Denmark after a mutated version of the coronavirus linked to mink farms was found in humans.

Germany reported record daily figures on Saturday with 23,399 new cases and 130 deaths.

But demonstrators, few of whom wore masks, protested against new restrictions in the eastern German city of Leipzig.

Organizers put the turnout at 20,000 while police said some attacked them after being told to disperse.

"I simply see the collateral damage that these measures cause: the isolation of people, the bankruptcy that threatens them," protester Robert Koehn, 39, told AFP.

Fellow protester Anne, 65, said that "for me there is no virus, they cite the coronavirus crisis as a motive, but there are other things behind this".

Demonstrators and the police have also clashed in parts of Italy and the Czech Republic in recent weeks.

In the mainly Catholic Philippines, home to the world's longest Christmas festivities that start in September, people were trying to get into the festive spirit despite public gatherings being banned and night-time curfews imposed.

"With or without COVID we have to celebrate Christmas whatever it takes, this is a Filipino tradition," said Cecilia Moore, wearing a mandatory mask as she paid 2,500 pesos ($52) for festive lights to decorate her home. 

Agence France-Presse

China and US economies diverge over coronavirus response

WASHINGTON - The United States and China dealt with the spread of the devastating coronavirus pandemic in vastly different ways, and that split is reshaping the global battle between the world's two leading economies.

About 11 months after the Wuhan outbreak, China's official GDP numbers this week show not only that the economy is growing, up 4.9% for the third quarter from a year earlier, but also that the Chinese are confident enough the virus has been vanquished to go shopping, dine and spend with gusto.

China's total reported death toll is below 5,000 and new infections are negligible, the result of draconian lockdowns, millions of tests, and strict contact tracing that set the stage for an economic rebound.

"China's success in containing the virus has allowed its economy to rebound more quickly, and with relatively less policy support, as compared with other large economies," said former senior US Treasury official Stephanie Segal, a senior fellow at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

China’s economic rebound shows upside to ‘stringent lockdowns, testing, tracking’: analysts

China's super rich got $1.5 trillion richer during pandemic: report

In the United States, 221,000 people are dead from COVID-19 after a delayed federal response, partisan battles over mask-wearing and lockdowns, and plenty of public events that do not follow public health guidelines. The country is in the midst of a new wave of infections.

Entertainment venues, restaurants and tourist spots are closed or only partially open, millions of people are out of work indefinitely , GDP is expected to shrink this quarter and the United States faces a gap in economic output that could last years.

"Obviously the US government bungled it," said Harry Broadman, a former senior US trade official and managing director with Berkeley Research Group. The singular authority of China's Communist Party helped Beijing enforce contact tracing and lockdowns, Broadman said. Other democracies, including New Zealand and South Korea, stamped out the virus as China did.

The real difference between the United States and China is Washington "has been arguing over stimulus issues on Capitol Hill and it's still far too little and too late," said Broadman, who has served under both Republican and Democratic presidents. "That has created more and more uncertainty on the part of business."

Ahead of a Nov. 3 re-election bid, US President Donald Trump has blamed China for the spread of the virus and asserted his administration had done all it could to contain it. Asked during a town hall due to be broadcast on Sinclair Broadcast Group on Wednesday if he would have done anything differently, Trump said, "No, not much."

White House spokesman Brian Morgenstern said on Wednesday that China does not accurately report anything, "let alone data regarding coronavirus infections and economic growth." He said Trump was rebuilding a strong and inclusive economy with the expected arrival of new treatments and vaccines in what the spokesman called record time.

The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday released data that showed a slight to modest recovery in the US economy, although the picture varied greatly from sector to sector.

RIPPLE EFFECTS

Experts cite longer-term concerns about China's economic prospects, including the high debt levels of its state-owned companies.

"Reliance on investment-led growth, fueled by credit expansion, builds up even further leverage and risks in an already weak financial system, and will further pull down efficiency and the sustainable growth rate," said Mark Sobel, a former senior US Treasury official.

But for now, the divergent responses to the virus will have an impact on the fierce political and economic rivalry between Beijing and Washington with ripples felt around the world, experts said.

"China's economy in 2021 is going to be 10% bigger than it was in 2019, and every other major economy is going to be smaller," said Nicholas Lardy, an economist with the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

That means China's "role in the global economy is going to continue to expand," Lardy predicts, making any attempts by US policymakers to discourage other countries from deals with Beijing, or otherwise "decouple" China from the global economy, more difficult.

China's exports have been stronger than expected, bolstered by demand for medical goods overseas. While the IMF projects global trade volume will fall by 10.4% in 2020, China's overall share of global trade has grown.

Beijing is experiencing other benefits as well. "We see signs of China's success in the exchange rate and equity market performance at a time when many other economies are under pressure," Segal said.

China's fiscal deficit for 2020 will expand by 5.6 percentage points to 11.9% of GDP - a smaller-scale increase than the massive stimulus that Beijing deployed during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the IMF's Fiscal Monitor shows.

By contrast, the United States will see a 12-percentage point increase in its 2020 fiscal deficit as a share of GDP, to nearly 19%.

While China's consumption is improving, retail sales are still down 7.2% over the first three quarters, with urban residents' disposable incomes down 0.3% over the same period. Strict lockdowns earlier in the year led to months of lost wages for many workers.

In Beijing, officials are highlighting their leadership role.

"China's epidemic control and prevention is at the forefront of the world, and China's companies are supporting the global resumption of work and production through their own resumptions," said Liu Aihua, spokeswoman for the National Bureau of Statistics, at a news conference where she announced the third quarter GDP results.

Meanwhile, the United States still lacks a robust contact tracing system, or enough testing, Lardy said. These are things the US could have "done much better at without being an authoritarian single party state," he added.

-reuters-

Florida surpasses half a million COVID-19 cases

MIAMI - Florida, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus pandemic in the southeastern US, has surpassed half a million cases and now has a death toll of more than 7,600, state health authorities said Wednesday.

The Florida Health Department reported only 5,409 new daily cases in its latest count, a considerable drop after recent figures of around 10,000 new infections per day in recent weeks.

The number of cases however may have decreased because testing was largely halted during the recent passage of Tropical Storm Isaias.

Public testing centers where people could go for a nose swab were closed Thursday, reopening only on Monday.

The storm swiped Florida's eastern coastline over the weekend, leaving four dead across the southeastern US.

Florida, population 21 million, has registered 502,739 total coronavirus cases, the Health Department said.

That means that close to one in every 43 Floridians has tested positive for the virus.

Florida has the highest number of virus cases in the country after California, which has about twice Florida's population.

After killing 225 people on Tuesday, the total COVID-19 death toll in the Sunshine State reached 7,627.

Governor Ron DeSantis reopened Florida for business between May and June but did not order the mandatory use of face masks or recommend new quarantine measures.

The Republican governor is a key ally of President Donald Trump, who is counting on a victory in Florida to help him win the November 3 presidential election.

Agence France-Presse

'It's emotional whiplash’: California is once again at the center of the virus crisis

(Closing a Second Time)

LOS ANGELES — When everything shut down in March as the coronavirus took off in California, Canter’s Deli, a mainstay in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, laid off dozens of employees.

A few months later, it called them back to work. By then, the state appeared to have emerged from the initial virus crisis in much better shape than other parts of the country.

But now California’s caseload is exploding, with rising deaths and hospitalizations. As quickly as things had opened up, they have shut down again.

"To have to call those people up so many times, starting March 15, to say, ‘I’m sorry, we have to lay you off, we have to furlough you,’” said Jacqueline Canter, 59, among the third generation of her family to run the restaurant. “Then call them back: ‘Oh, guess what, we’re opening again, come back.’ Then call them back: ‘Guess what, you don’t have a job anymore.’ It’s just a devastating experience for me.

“It’s an emotional roller coaster,” she added. “It’s emotional whiplash.”

If America is now experiencing a sense of national déjà vu, with coronavirus deaths rising and hospitalizations at a level similar to the spring peak, that feeling is perhaps nowhere more intense than in California.

In the Northeast, the crisis that was so acute this spring in places like New York and Connecticut has now abated and shifted to the Sun Belt, where states like Texas and Florida had managed at first to escape the worst of the virus. But California is now in the unwelcome position of having found itself at the center of the pandemic twice over.

California was the first state to issue a stay-at-home order this spring, helping to control an early outbreak. But after a reopening that some health officials warned was too fast, cases surged, leading to a new statewide mask mandate and the closure of bars and indoor dining again. With more than 420,000 known cases, California has surpassed New York to have the most recorded cases of any state, and it set a single-day record Wednesday with more than 12,100 new cases and 155 new deaths.

And as California struggles once again to contain the virus, the multitude of challenges playing out across America has collided in every corner of the state, as if it were a microcosm of the country itself.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is wrestling with how to convey a consistent message while dealing with local officials who have resisted both new shutdowns and enforcing a mandatory mask order. Some rural areas of the state remain relatively unscathed with low case counts, while cases in Los Angeles are skyrocketing. The city’s mayor, Eric Garcetti, has warned that a new stay-at-home order could come down in the coming days.

In many parts of San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, people do not leave home without a mask. In Huntington Beach and across Orange County, residents have openly defied mask orders and protested against them.

In Los Angeles and San Diego, classrooms will be empty this fall, after public school officials decided they were unwilling to risk in-person instruction. But in Orange County, a recommendation by the Board of Education that children return to school without masks became political fodder for debate, even as the governor announced that most California schools would not be able to teach in person.

The contradictions span the state, creating a sense of regional dissonance. In Imperial County, on the southern border with Mexico, hospitals have been so overwhelmed with virus cases that patients have had to be airlifted elsewhere. But in the northernmost tip, the virus has yet to hit Modoc County, an agricultural community of around 9,000, where there were zero known cases as of Thursday.

“It’s a small town,” said Cynthia Peña, owner of Java Doc, a coffee shop in Alturas, California, where seasonal fires were the most pressing issue for local officials. “Everyone is pretty much social distancing; we already know a cow’s length.” Still, she has shut down her dining room and asked her employees to wear masks when customers arrive at the drive-thru window.

In recent weeks, Newsom has walked a fine line between justifying the state’s reopening and imploring Californians to stay home and refrain from gathering. He has pleaded with residents to wear masks and chided them for allowing their children to hug their cousins or grandparents.

He has repeatedly pointed out that conditions across a huge state are varied, saying, “None of us live in the aggregate; it’s a very different picture you can paint depending on where you live in the state.”

It is in some ways California’s sprawling nature, with 40 million residents spread across urban downtowns and rural areas, liberal strongholds and conservative alcoves, that has aggravated the feeling of back and forth. What applies in one area may not feel necessary in another, even as residents live under statewide orders. And the sense of confusion is often made worse by conflicting political messages from local leaders, the governor and the White House.

“It’s very hard to go backwards,” said Jonathan Fielding, a professor of health policy and management at UCLA and former public health director for Los Angeles County, who worried that a lack of consistent messaging had allowed many Californians to choose which message they wanted to hear at various points in the pandemic.

“When people have been isolated and in some cases lost a job and are hearing all of these different things, what is the message?” he said. “What is the message when you are hearing, basically, a cacophony?”

In Los Angeles — which has seen the most cases in California and where hospitals are filling up — parts of the city feel under siege, and in other areas, there is little palpable sense of the severity of the situation. Unlike in New York City during the height of the outbreak, most Angelenos have not had to absorb the piercing wail of ambulance sirens at all hours, a sound that came to define the pandemic there.

California’s numbers are in part a reflection of its vast population, about double that of New York state, and testing is far more available now than in the spring. Antibody tests suggest that far more people than previously reported were infected in New York City at its peak. But because Los Angeles is so less dense than New York City, there are parts of Los Angeles where the reality of the virus at this stage of the pandemic can go unnoticed.

“It feels as normal as it always did,” said Michael Lee, the owner of a hair salon, Bang Bang LA, in the Los Feliz neighborhood.

For Lee, the past several months have been turbulent in the extreme. He was set to open his business just as the pandemic gained a hold in the country, forcing shutdowns.

“We opened March 19 and got shut down March 20,” he said.

Lee, who rents space to other hair stylists, did not collect any rent for the first months of the shutdown. Now he is charging tenants just 35% of their rent “just to keep the doors open for when we can go back to work.”

He was allowed to open for about five weeks beginning in early June, but many of his clients stayed away, saying they feared another coronavirus wave. “They were right, I guess,” he said.

The salon shut down again last week, and Lee has been spending his time cleaning it, touching up the paint on the walls and researching business loans to help him stay afloat. “I’ve just been watching the numbers every day, hoping to see them start dropping,” he said.

For essential workers, many of whom are people of color who have faced the risk of the virus on a daily basis for months, the latest upticks were especially worrisome.

“It’s scary,” said Christina Lockyer-White, a nursing assistant at a nursing home in Kern County, who watched as dozens of patients and fellow employees fell ill in April. “Nobody should have to go through or see what I experienced.”

As cases rise, Lockyer-White, who said she tested negative this spring, once again worries about contracting the virus and taking it home to her son. “You always wonder if a second wave can come back, because you hear that they can,” Lockyer-White said Thursday during a break from a shift at the nursing home. “It’s always, make sure you don’t let your guard down.”


-The New York Times Company-

US notches record 68,428 new virus cases in 24 hours: Johns Hopkins

WASHINGTON - The United States on Thursday set yet another record for new coronavirus cases with 68,428 infections recorded in 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

In that period the death toll also climbed by 974 people, the Baltimore-based university's tracker showed at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Friday).

That brought the total death toll in the country since the pandemic began to 138,201, and the total number of cases to 3,560,364.

The US remains the hardest-hit country in the world in absolute terms.

Experts believe it never emerged from its first wave of infections, and cases have been surging again in recent weeks, particularly across the south and west in states that pushed to lift lockdown restrictions early.

Florida has emerged as the epicenter of the US outbreak, reporting a record 156 COVID-19 deaths on Thursday and nearly 14,000 new infections.

The total number of virus cases in the "Sunshine State" has now surpassed 315,000, and there have been 4,782 deaths, according to Florida Department of Health figures.

Florida is now reporting more COVID-19 cases daily than any other state in the country. California and Texas are next, with about 10,000 new cases a day each.

Agence France-Presse

Man, 30, dies after attending a 'COVID Party,' Texas hospital says

A 30-year-old man who believed the coronavirus was a hoax and attended a “COVID party” died after being infected with the virus, according to a Texas hospital.

The man had attended a gathering with an infected person to test whether the coronavirus was real, said Dr. Jane Appleby, chief medical officer at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, where the man died.

She did not say when the party took place, how many people attended or how long after the event was the man hospitalized with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The man was not publicly identified.

The premise of such parties is to test whether the virus really exists or to intentionally expose people to the coronavirus in an attempt to gain immunity.

Appleby said the man had told his nurse that he attended a COVID party. Just before he died, she said the patient told his nurse: “I think I made a mistake. I thought this was a hoax, but it’s not.”

Appleby said she was sharing the story to warn others, especially in Texas, where coronavirus cases are surging.

There were 8,332 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the state Saturday, according to a New York Times database. More than 258,000 cases and more than 3,200 deaths have been recorded in Texas so far.

COVID parties are “dangerous, irresponsible and potentially deadly,” said Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

“Attending such a party may be a path to an early demise, if not chronic and unrelenting fatigue, chest pain, difficulty breathing and daily fevers, if you do survive,” Glatter said.

Before there was a chickenpox vaccine, people hosted chickenpox parties to infect their children with the disease, as it was thought to be more dangerous to contract as an adult.

The vaccine is the safest way to protect against chickenpox now that it is available, although some, including former Gov. Matt Bevin of Kentucky, still allowed their children to participate in such gatherings to contract the illness.

The coronavirus does not behave like the chickenpox, Glatter said, and parties for either virus should not be held.

In Alabama, reports that students were gathering to bet on who could get infected with the virus first — with the sickened winner taking home a pot of money — led to warnings from the University of Alabama to students about the parties’ risks, although the events could not be confirmed by state health officials.

The United States recently hit a record number of new cases per day, with more than 68,000 confirmed cases Friday.

Being infected by the coronavirus has yet to be proved to provide immunity, so reinfection is possible.

In an Op-Ed article for The Times, Dr. Greta Bauer, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, warned against coronavirus parties, noting that even young people can be hospitalized and face long-term damage from the virus.

“It is important that we don’t take unnecessary risks with unknown consequences,” Bauer wrote. “If we can avoid infection, we need to do exactly that.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that people infected with the coronavirus should not attend gatherings, and that any event where people are mingling without face coverings or social distancing are inherently high risk.

A California man died from COVID-19 after going to a party — not held for the purpose of infecting its attendees — where people did not wear masks and an infected person had attended.

-The New York Times Company-

Disney World reopens as US virus death toll surges

ORLANDO - Disney World is known as "The Most Magical Place on Earth" but as the Florida theme park reopened Saturday, it was counting on a bit of science -- masks, social distancing, hand sanitizer -- to stave off the coronavirus.

The state of Florida is one of the hardest-hit by a new wave of cases and deaths in the United States, already the most affected country in the world in terms of infections and fatalities.

On Saturday, Florida reported its third-highest daily increase in cases, with 10,360 new infections, as well as 95 deaths.

Overall, the US has seen nearly 135,000 deaths out of 3.2 million cases.

In Orlando, Disney World reopened two of its four parks -- Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom -- after four months of closure. Epcot and Disney Hollywood Studios will open on Wednesday.

Several hundred people queued in the Florida heat ahead of the park's reopening -- some sporting Mickey ears but all wearing masks, part of the park's new guidelines requiring them for both guests and employees.

Saturday's visitors had reserved their tickets in advance, allowing Disney to control the number of people in the park and accommodate for social distancing. Tickets are already sold out through July.

The park was carrying out temperature checks at the entrance and hand sanitizer was widely available. Disney said it was enforcing social distancing of six feet (two meters) at attractions and inside shops.

"By visiting Walt Disney World Resort you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19," the park said on its website.

Gone are the park's famous parades which allow mingling with Disney characters; also absent are the evening fireworks shows.

On social media, many criticized the park's reopening as Florida experiences an accelerated number of cases.

The state's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis began reopening Florida's economy in phases in May and June.

Top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said Thursday that Florida had begun reopening before meeting the criteria that would have enabled it to do so safely.

DeSantis disputed the remarks, saying his decision to reopen was justified by figures at the time.

At the end of June, the governor took a step backwards, ordering the closure of bars in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus, but cases have continued to climb.

Florida is not the only state grappling with a serious spread of COVID-19.

In Georgia, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Friday ordered a return to the southern city's Phase 1 lockdown, telling nearly all residents to wear masks, a retreat after having partially reopened the city. Bottoms herself has tested positive.

Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, registered 435 new cases of the disease in the latest 24-hour period.

Arizona has seen a steady rise since March in the use by hospital intensive-care units of artificial breathing machines. 

In Texas, several hospitals -- including in Houston's huge medical complex -- say their coronavirus wards are at or near capacity, amid fears of a further influx of patients in coming days.

And some states that had largely been spared up to now -- including Idaho, Oklahoma and North Dakota -- have been setting new virus records almost every day.

Agence France-Presse

US awards $1.6 billion to Novavax for COVID-19 vaccine

The United States on Tuesday announced it was providing $1.6 billion in funding for the development and manufacture of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate produced by biotech firm Novavax, the largest amount awarded under Operation Warp Speed.

Separately, the US also said it was providing $450 million to Regeneron for its experimental COVID-19 treatment and prophylaxis, a combination of two antibodies.

Under the terms of its agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense, Novavax agrees to deliver 100 million doses of its vaccine, potentially by the end of the year.

"We are honored to partner with Operation Warp Speed to move our vaccine candidate forward with extraordinary urgency in the quest to provide vital protection to our nation's population," said Stanley Erck, the company's president and CEO.

The final stage Phase 3 trial of its vaccine, called NVX-CoV2373, is set to take place this fall.

The Maryland-based company uses insect cells to grow synthesized pieces of the SARS-CoV-2's "spike protein," which the virus uses to invade cells, in order to trigger the human body's immune response.

It also uses an "adjuvant," a compound that boosts the production of neutralizing antibodies.

In the spring, the company said it had proven the efficacy of a seasonal flu vaccine it had developed using similar technology.

The amount awarded to Novavax by the US is higher than the $1.2 billion given to the Oxford University vaccine that is being developed by AstraZeneca.

Under Operation Warp Speed, the US is aiming to deliver millions of doses of safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19 in 2021.

Also Tuesday, the US said it was providing New York-state based Regeneron with $450 million to scale up manufacture of its COVID0-19 antibody treatment.

The company, which announced on Monday it was entering late stage human trials, estimates that it could have between 70,000 and 300,000 treatment doses, with the first available by late summer.

The drug, called REGN-COV2, is a combination of two antibodies that block the coronavirus' spike protein.

Regeneron scientists evaluated thousands of antibodies harvested from genetically-modified mice with human immune systems and from humans, identifying the two they found to be most potent, while not competing against each other.

The company uses a multi-antibody strategy to decrease the chances that the virus will mutate in order to evade the blocking action of a single antibody, an approach it detailed in a recent study in Science.

Last year, a triple antibody cocktail developed by Regeneron was shown to be effective against the Ebola virus.

Agence France-Presse

US records 43,742 new virus cases in 24 hours: tracker

WASHINGTON - The United States notched more than 43,000 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed Saturday, amid a surge of infections around the country.

The Baltimore-based university's tracker showed 43,742 more cases as of 8:30 p.m. (8:30 a.m. in Manila), bringing the country's total number of cases since the pandemic began to 2,836,764.

The university also recorded a further 252 fatalities, bringing the total death toll to 129,657.

The uptick in cases came after three consecutive days of record numbers of new infections, including a high of 57,683 on Friday.

Saturday's lower number could be attributed to less reporting on the July 4th national holiday.

The United States is the hardest-hit country in the global pandemic, both in caseload and deaths.

President Donald Trump on Saturday accused China -- where the outbreak originated -- of a cover-up that allowed the illness to race across the globe, but hailed American "scientific brilliance."

"We'll likely have a therapeutic and or vaccine solution long before the end of the year," he said.

Agence France-Presse

Florida, Texas post daily COVID-19 records as 'positivity' rates climb higher

WASHINGTON - Florida and Texas, two states that have emerged as the latest hot spots of the US coronavirus outbreak, both reported new single-day record increases in confirmed COVID-19 cases on Saturday - with nearly 20,000 additional infections combined.

For a second straight day, Texas also registered an all-time high in the number of people hospitalized with the highly contagious respiratory illness - 7,890 patients after 238 new admissions over the past 24 hours.

By comparison, New York state - the US epicenter of the outbreak months ago, reported just 844 hospitalizations on Saturday, far below the nearly 19,000 hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients at the peak of its coronavirus crisis.

During the first four days of July alone, a total of 14 states have posted a daily record increases in the number of individuals testing positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that has killed nearly 130,000 Americans.

And in a further sign the virus is spreading, at least 18 states, including the three most highly populated - California, Texas and Florida - have posted ominous rates of infection as a percentage of diagnostic tests over the past two weeks.

The recent surge, most pronounced in Southern and Western states that were among the latest to impose mandatory business restrictions at the outset of the pandemic and the first to relax them, has alarmed public health officials ahead of weekend July Fourth holiday celebrations.

The majority of Independence Day fireworks displays across the country have been canceled, as state and local authorities urged Americans to avoid large crowds, practice safe social distancing and wear face coverings while out in public.

Florida's confirmed coronavirus cases rose by a record 11,458 on Saturday, the state's health department said, marking the second time in three days that its caseload jumped by more than 10,000 in 24 hours.

The latest case numbers in Florida, which has yet to report statewide hospitalizations, surpassed the highest daily tally reported by any European county during the height of the coronavirus outbreak there.

In Texas, meanwhile, the number of new cases rose by a record 8,258 on Saturday. North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alaska, Missouri, Idaho and Alabama all registered new daily highs on Friday.

Despite the rising number of infections, the average daily US death toll has gradually declined in recent weeks, reflecting the growing proportion of positive tests among younger, healthier people less prone to severe illness when infected.

OMINOUS SIGN OF VIRUS TRANSMISSIONS

Still, a growing number of states are reporting a troubling upward trend in the percentage of diagnostic tests that come back positive - a key indicator of community spread that experts refer to as the positivity rate.

The World Health Organization considers positivity rates above 5 percent to be concerning, and widely watched data from Johns Hopkins University shows at least 18 states with average rates over the past two weeks exceeding that level and climbing.

Eleven states averaged double-digit rates over the past seven days – Arizona (26 percent), Florida (18 percent), Nevada (16 percent), South Carolina (15 percent), Alabama (15 percent), Texas (14.5 percent), Mississippi (14 percent), Georgia (13 percent), Idaho 11 percent), Kansas (10 percent) and Utah (10 percent). That was up from four states with double-digit rates two weeks ago.

Even in California, which led the nation with statewide workplace closures and stay-at-home orders issued on March 19, the positivity rate has crept up to an average of 7 percent over the past week.

Against that backdrop, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez imposed an indefinite nightly curfew starting Friday and halted the reopenings of casinos and other entertainment venues. Earlier this week, Miami-Dade and neighboring Broward County, the state's two most populous counties, required residents to wear face coverings in public.

Arkansas on Friday joined a push toward mandating mask-wearing in public. Governor Asa Hutchinson authorized the state's cities and towns to enact a "model ordinance" requiring face coverings.

The move came a day after Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered face masks worn in most public places, reversing his stance following an alarming rise in infections.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly sought to minimize the jump in confirmed cases as a function of greater testing and again this week predicted that the virus would "disappear."

"If you test 40,000,000 people, you are going to have many cases that, without the testing (like other countries), would not show up every night on the Fake Evening News," Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

-reuters-

Los Angeles records 'alarming' surge in COVID-19 cases to more than 100,000

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 hospitalizations 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 hospitalizations 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.

Texas and Florida ordered the closure of all their recently reopened bars on Friday.

Democrats leading the biggest metropolitan areas in Texas on Monday renewed calls for Governor Greg Abbott to give them the authority to make decisions on mandatory mask wearing and social distancing to protect their hard-hit populations.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner asked Abbott to give local leaders back the powers they had in April, until an executive order from the governor nixed it: their ability to fine people who do not follow rules mandating masks and social distancing.

NEW JERSEY, KANSAS TAKE NEW STEPS

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said on Monday that indoor dining will no longer resume on Thursday in the state as planned and would be postponed indefinitely.

In Kansas, Governor Laura Kelly imposed a statewide mandate requiring residents to wear masks in public spaces, a move she said was necessary to avoid another shutdown.

Beaches in Florida's Broward County and Palm Beach County will not open for the July 3-5 holiday weekend, officials said on Sunday, a blow to residents hoping to celebrate Independence Day there on Saturday. Miami-Dade County had already announced beach closures for the holiday weekend.

AMC, the largest US movie theater chain, on Monday said it was pushing back the reopening of its theaters to July 30 from July 15.

Arizona and Georgia were among states reporting record new cases this week. Last week, a total of 15 US states reported records, according to a Reuters tally.

In June, 22 US states reported record increases in new cases, often multiple times, including Alaska, Arkansas, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon and Utah.

Face coverings have become a political issue, with some conservative politicians and many supporters of US President Donald Trump arguing that such mandates are unconstitutional.

The city of Jacksonville, Florida, venue for part of the Republican nominating convention in August, said on Twitter it would be requiring masks for all public locations starting later on Monday.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Monday that Trump "has no problem with masks and to do whatever your local jurisdiction requests."

US Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday pressed Americans to adopt face masks during a trip to Texas and wore one himself, a sharp turnaround for the administration. Other Republican politicians in hard-hit states also are now calling for masks.

The New York Times reported on Monday that 43 percent of US deaths from COVID-19 were linked to nursing homes and long-term care facilities. The paper cited its own tracking database.

-reuters-

US tops 2.5 million virus cases as infections surge

MIAMI  - The United States has surpassed 2.5 million coronavirus cases, as efforts to reopen the world's economic powerhouse were dramatically set back by a surge of new infections in states such as Florida.

Infections are also up in some other parts of the world that have reopened, and the public health realities pushed global Pride celebrations largely online Saturday, 50 years after the first march for LGBT rights in New York.

The US leads the world in COVID-19 cases by far, accounting for well over a third of the global total of nearly 9.9 million since the virus emerged late last year in China.

On Saturday alone, the US recorded more than 43,000 new cases, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. US deaths now exceed 125,000, approximately one-fourth the world total of over 495,000.

The tension between reopening battered economies -- efforts pushed in the US by President Donald Trump -- and public health is a source of debate in nearly every country.

In Iran, which has struggled to curb its outbreak even as it gradually lifted restrictions from April, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said "something must be done" to prevent coronavirus causing economic issues.

"But in the case of negligence and significant spread of the disease, economic problems will increase, too," he said. 

The EU on Saturday pushed back a decision on a list of "safe countries" from which travelers can visit Europe -- a list which could exclude the US.

Meanwhile, stars including Coldplay, Miley Cyrus and Jennifer Hudson lent support to a European Commission-led drive that raised 6.15 billion euros ($6.9 billion) to support vaccine research and help make it available to poorer countries.

Some of those countries are still far from reaching their peak in infections, authorities say.

In the Middle East, the governor of Bethlehem announced that the Palestinian city would temporarily close due to rising infections.

While in India, densely populated cities have been particularly hard hit. The country set a daily record Saturday with 18,500 new cases and 385 deaths. Total infections are at 509,000, with more than 15,600 deaths.

The disease also continues to rampage through Latin America, with Peru surpassing 9,000 deaths in total on Saturday.

Brazil -- the second hardest-hit country in the world after the US -- recorded 990 deaths on Saturday, the highest in the world that day, while Mexico recorded the second highest, 719.

'EXPLOSION' IN FLORIDA

In Florida, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has conceded there has been an "explosion" in new cases.

On Saturday, the "Sunshine State" notched 9,585 cases in 24 hours, a new daily record.

The average age of people infected has dropped sharply -- to 33 from 65 two months ago. Young people frustrated by months of confinement have poured back to the state's beaches, boardwalks and bars, often without masks and seemingly unconcerned about social distancing.

Miami announced beaches will close over the July 4 holiday weekend. Bars are also closing.

Georgia, Nevada and South Carolina also reported new daily record cases on Saturday, while Arizona broke its record for hospitalizations.

With Trump struggling to lift his re-election bid off the ground ahead of November, the campaign confirmed that events featuring Vice President Mike Pence in Arizona and Florida next week have been postponed "out of an abundance of caution."

Trump had faced a backlash after insisting on a rally in Oklahoma despite virus concerns one week ago.

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom ordered some areas to reinstate stay-at-home orders, while San Francisco announced a "pause" in its reopening.

Texas also shut down its bars. Governor Greg Abbott, another Republican who resisted lockdowns, said Friday that if he could "go back and redo anything, it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars."

Texas was among the first US states to reopen. 

GLOBAL PRIDE

Fifty years on from the first Gay Pride march, the LGBT community and their supporters took many of their events online Saturday for Global Pride, a 24-hour online event broadcast live.

There were some small marches, such as in Mexico City, where some 200 people defied quarantine to progress along Reforma, the city's main avenue. 

The virus has also thrown world sports into turmoil. Pakistan's cricket board announced Saturday it would leave 10 players off its tour of England on Sunday after they tested positive.

Agence France-Presse

US facing 'critical' coronavirus surge

WASHINGTON, United States - Coronavirus infections are surging across large parts of the United States, the top US infectious disease expert has warned, as the death toll in Latin America passed 100,000.

The developments highlighted how far away the world remains from ending the pandemic, six months into a crisis that has claimed nearly 500,000 lives and devastated the global economy.

Even in Europe, which has been loosening travel restrictions following a brutal few months when it was the epicenter of the pandemic, there have been major setbacks.

Germany on Tuesday reimposed lockdowns on more than 600,000 people following a cluster of infections at a slaughterhouse, while world men's tennis number one Novak Djokovic tested positive after hosting an exhibition tournament in the Balkans.

In the United States, White House advisor Anthony Fauci warned the next two weeks would be "critical to our ability to address... surgings" in Florida, Texas and other states.

The United States has already recorded more deaths than any other nation, with nearly 800 more fatalities on Tuesday taking its toll past 121,000.

However President Donald Trump, whose handling of the crisis has been widely criticized as erratic, is determined to fast-track efforts to restore normality.

He continued to stoke controversy on Tuesday, doubling down on weekend comments he wanted to slow testing because so many confirmed infections made the United States look bad.

"I don't kid," Trump said, after a White House official described his initial comments as just a joke. 

With the parts of the United States unable to contain the pandemic, the European Union was considering blocking US travelers as it reopens its borders to tourism, the New York Times reported.

Reflecting the sentiments of many around the world, New York food shop manager Ian Joskowitz said he was determined not to think about the dangers of the virus as he tried to continue running his business. 

"If I thought about it too much, I probably may have a problem doing this. So I put it out of my mind," Joskowitz told AFP.

"With my employees, I have an agreement with them. They keep coming in. I'll continue to do everything humanly possible to keep them safe."

'LITTLE FLU'

Latin America has been one of the world's worst hotspots for weeks, and the number of deaths there and the Caribbean surpassed 100,000 on Tuesday, according to an AFP tally.

Brazil, where President Jair Bolsonaro has flouted containment measures and described the virus as a "little flu", is officially the worst-hit country after the United States.

More than 1,300 people were confirmed to have died of the virus in Brazil on Tuesday, after a federal judge ordered Bolsonaro to wear a face mask in public.

"The president has a constitutional obligation to follow the laws in force in the country, as well as to promote the general welfare of the people," the judge wrote.

GERMAN SETBACK 

Germany was the first major EU nation to begin easing lockdown measures about seven weeks ago, but two districts in the west of the country were forced to apply the brakes once again.

An outbreak at a slaughterhouse that has infected more than 1,500 workers prompted authorities to impose fresh restrictions on nearly 640,000 people.

Portugal also imposed new restrictions in and around its capital Lisbon on Tuesday. 

And the future of sporting events suffered a major blow when Djokovic, who had organized a series of exhibition events in the Balkans at which social distancing was minimal, tested positive for the virus.

Tennis was hoping to follow team sports like football back into arenas and stadiums, but the positive tests of Djokovic and three others have dampened its prospects. 

"I am so deeply sorry our tournament has caused harm," the 17-time Grand Slam champion wrote on Twitter, adding, "It was too soon."

Agence France-Presse