11Th August 2020
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11th August 2020 o19 HIGHLIGHTS • Worldwide cases of COVID-19 have now surpassed 20 million with the global tally now at 20,269,874 cases and 739,445 deaths, with 13,199,405 having recovered according to Worldometer. • Reuters have reported that France and Germany have decided to exit talks over how best to reform the World Health Organisation due to the United States’ continued desire to take control of the discussions despite having decided to leave the organisation. • The African Union has called for ‘aggressive and bold’ action after COVID-19 cases on the continent surpassed 1 million. • A new study published by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has found that Hispanic children were around eight times more likely to be hospitalised by COVID-19 than white children and black children are five times more likely. • The United States reached a new milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic on 8th August by being the first country to reach 5 million COVID-19 cases, which equates to one in every 66 residents being infected with the virus. • On 9th August New Zealand were able to celebrate 100 days without a domestic transmission of COVID- 19. • On 10th August, Greece’s top infectious disease experts formally reported that they have entered a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. • The potential for a ‘trade war’ between Canada and the United States could occur following a 10% tariff on Canadian aluminium imposed by the Trump administration. • Protests in Beirut have escalated to violence resulting in more than 100 injured and the death of a Lebanese policeman following the recent port explosion. President Michel Aoun accepted the resignation of the countries cabinet with political leaders calling for more than a third of the sitting MPs to quit parliament in order to force new elections. 2 WORLD NEWS -19/RAS/11th August 2020 COVID-19 TOTAL DEATHS TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES PATIENTS RECOVERED 739,445 20,269,874 13,199,045 11.08.2020 - Worldometer COVID-19 – UK • The total confirmed UK COVID-19 cases as of 10th August is 311,641 with 46,526 deaths. Latest figures can be found here. • The mandatory wearing of facemasks has now been expanded to include museums, places of worship and aquariums in England and Scotland. Additionally, the wearing of a mask is compulsory in England for cinemas and funeral homes, and in Scotland for banks and beauty salons. • After a rise in COVID-19 cases the town of Preston in Lancashire has had to re-impose COVID-19 restrictions. The new restrictions will mean that different households, with the exclusion of social bubbles, will no longer be able to meet in homes, private gardens, pubs, or restaurants. • Wales has eased its lockdown allowing gyms, swimming pools, leisure centres and children’s play areas to reopen. • Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has said there is little evidence of COVID-19 being transmitted in schools, according to a large-scale study due to be published later this year. Schools are planned to reopen from today in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and next month in England. • Hit hard by COVID-19, and relying on advertising for 80% of its revenues, the Evening Standard has announced plans to cut a third of its employees. Over the past three years the Evening Standard has made a loss of £40 million. • As much as 40% of grades submitted by teachers for A-Level exams will be downgraded by the exam regulator Ofqual after teachers were deemed to have marked too softly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. • First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has apologised for how exam results in Scotland have been handled. All school exams in Scotland were cancelled this year due to the pandemic, and pupils’ results were decided by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) based on teacher assessments. However, the system has been criticised after the moderation metric used resulted in around 125,000 estimates being downgraded which many pupils, parents, and teachers alike have said is unfair. Education Secretary John Swinney is due to announce the government’s plans to rectify the issue today. • The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has reduced its energy price cap in response to falling prices in the energy market as a result of COVID-19. Consequently, up to 15 million houses are expected to receive lower energy bills this winter. • 40 prison officers in HMP Low Moss in East Dunbartonshire have had to quarantine after a prison officer tested positive for COVID-19. Prisons are also isolating and visits to the effected wing have been suspended. • Up to 750,000 unused COVID-19 kits produced by Randox for use in care homes and for individuals have had to be recalled after concerns over safety standards such as the sterility of the test. 3 WORLD NEWS -19/RAS/11th August 2020 COVID-19- OTHER COUNTRIES Australia The 9th August marked Australia’s deadliest day of the pandemic so far with the state of Victoria reporting 17 deaths as a result of COVID-19. Cuba New COVID-19 measures have been imposed in the Cuban capital, Havana, after a resurgence of the virus. The government have ordered the closure of restaurants, bars, and pools, as well as the suspension of public transport and the blocking of beach access. France Wearing face masks is now compulsory in busy parts of Paris as cases of COVID-19 rise in the capital. The rules apply to all those 11 years old and over, in “certain very crowded zones”. Those breaching the order could get a fine of €135 and six months in prison if found to have violated the order three times. The order will last for a month. Ghana A BBC investigation has found that some staff in Ghanaian hospitals have been selling essential PPE such as face shields, masks, and suits for personal gain. Lack of PPE has been a severe issue in the country, and more than 2000 medical workers have contracted the COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Greece Greece reported 203 new cases of COVID-19 on 9th August. The highest daily tally since the start of the outbreak in the country. This latest rise in new COVID-19 cases has led to top infectious disease experts in the country formally reporting that Greece has now entered its second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ireland The Republic of Ireland are currently contending with outbreaks in three of their 26 counties. New restrictions have been imposed in County Kildare, Laois and Offaly with residents only allowed to leave their counties for ‘limited circumstances’ as well as restaurants only being allowed to serve food to small groups outside. Israel Thousands of Israelis have continued to rally outside the house of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem on Saturday 8th August. Anger is mounting over allegations of corruption and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Your time is up” has been projected onto a building in giant red letters at the protest site. Italy On 7th August, the number of new COVID-19 cases rose by 38% with 552 more cases than 6th August. Italy have not registered such a rise in new cases since late May. Malta The Mediterranean island has re-implemented COVID-19 restrictions after a new rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths. The new measures will include restrictions on public gatherings as well as restrictions on nursing home visits, including the requirement for visitors to remain behind Perspex screens. Morocco The European Union have removed Morocco from its list of countries that the organisation allows non-essential travel too. The list, which contains countries deemed to have the virus under control, now only numbers 10 and includes Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay. 4 WORLD NEWS -19/RAS/11th August 2020 Norway In a bid to prevent a resurgence of the virus in the country, Norway have advised its citizens to avoid all travel abroad. Russia It has been reported that the number of deaths in Russia for the month of June has risen 18.6% to 162,758 from last year. These figures are for ‘all-cause mortality’, including COVID-19, and are used to gain a better perspective on the virus’ impact outside of the obvious. Ukraine In order to control the spread of COVID-19 in the country, the Ukrainian government have made the decision to temporarily close its border with Crimea, which has been annexed by Russia since 2014. United States of America The USA has continued its resurgence from COVID-19 in the jobs sector having seen the unemployment rate fall from 11.1% to 10.2%, falling for three months in a row. The US economy added 1.8 million jobs in July alone. Useful Information Sources UK wide – Public Health England Scotland – Scottish Government Northern Ireland – NISRA COVID-19 deaths in England & Wales – ONS COVID-19 Statistics – Worldometer – Johns Hopkins University WORLD NEWS Afghanistan The Afghan government agreed on Sunday 9th August to release 400 “hard-core” Taliban prisoners in an effort to aid the peace talks. This is the last batch of 5,000 prisoners to be freed as a condition for the Taliban militants to join the peace talks Brazil Wildfires in the Brazilian Amazon in July have risen by 28% in comparison to last year. The NGO Amazon Conservation have already tracked 62 major fires, up to 30th July, this year. In some better news, deforestation in the region has fallen by 27% in July in comparison to last year.