South Korea on ‘brink of nationwide coronavirus pandemic
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Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) warned the country is on brink of nationwade pandemic following the highest daily number of coronavirus cases recorded since March.
- India is generating the highest number of daily new cases in the world for the last 18 days, with over 50,000 fresh cases everyday.
- More than 23.1 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 around the world, and more than 14.91 million have recovered. At least 804,400 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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The new coronavirus is circulating four times more among people under 40 in France than among over-65-year-olds, France’s Health Minister Olivier Veran said as the country reported an additional 3,602 new COVID-19 cases .
Sunday, August 23
09:00 GMT – Italy rules out new lockdown as coronavirus cases rise
The Italian government is not considering new lockdown to curb coronavirus infections, Health Minister Roberto Speranza said, despite a steady rise in new cases over the past month.
“We will not have a new lockdown,” Speranza told daily newspaper La Stampa, saying the current situation cannot be compared to February and March, which marked a time where the disease was spreading out of control and it was difficult to track and isolate infected people.
“I am optimistic, although prudent. Our national health service has become much stronger.”
08:35 GMT – Indonesia reports 2,037 new coronavirus cases
Indonesia has reported 2,037 new coronavirus cases, bringing its total tally to 153,535, data from the country’s COVID-19 taskforce showed.
The Southeast Asian country also added 86 new deaths on Sunday, taking the total number to 6,680 – the highest COVID-19 death toll in Southeast Asia.
07:58 GMT – Bangladesh: Religious secretary infected by coronavirus
Bangladesh’s religious affairs secretary and his wife tested positive for the novel coronavirus, an official said on Sunday.
“Religion Secretary Md Nurul Islam and his wife tested positive for the coronavirus. Both of them are under treatment at the Rajarbagh Police Hospital,” Mohammad Anwar Hossain, a senior information officer at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, said.
According to the directorate general of health services, the death toll in the country rose to 1,907 and the total number of confirmed cases is 292,625.
06:38 GMT – UK PM Johnson says failure to reopen schools not an option
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told allies that “failure to reopen schools is not an option”, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.
Earlier this month, Johnson said reopening schools in September was a social, economic and moral imperative, insisting schools would be able to operate safely despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Sunday Times reported this month that Johnson had ordered a public relations campaign to ensure schools open on time.
05:40 GMT – India surpasses 3 million COVID-19 cases
India’s coronavirus tally crossed the 3 million case mark, the country’s health ministry said.
The country crossed that mark just 16 days after the number of cases crossed 2 million.
An update released by the health ministry showed the death toll stands at 56,706. In the last 24 hours, the country recorded close to 70,000 new cases.
Ministry figures show the western state of Maharashtra reported the highest number of cases in the country.
04:30 GMT- Australia’s Victoria reports another 208 new coronavirus infections
Australia’s state of Victoria reported another 208 new cases and 17 new deaths on Sunday.
Australia now has a total of more than 24,800 and 502 deaths, including 415 in Victoria.
But Victoria’s top health official, Peter Sutton, made an assurance that overall the situation remains positive, and that if the trend continues, he expects the daily numbers below 150 next week.
Vacationers returning to the Italian mainland from Sardinia helped push Italy’s daily new coronavirus caseload far past 1,000, reaching the high for the first time since early May.
Confirmed cases increased from 947 on Friday to 1,071 on Saturday, with many infections confirmed in travelers who were tested as they disembarked from airplanes or ferries.
Authorities in Lazio, the south-central region including Rome, say 45 percent of its 215 new cases Saturday were from people returning from Sardinia, where several clusters have been linked to discos or private parties on the posh Emerald Coast resort area.
While the average age of infection early in the outbreak hovered near 70, it’s now 30.
Italy has more than 258,000 confirmed cases. With three more deaths, the known total has reached 35,400.
03:40 GMT – China reports 12 new COVID-19 cases
China’s National Health Commission reported on Sunday at least 12 new confirmed coronavirus cases, bringing to over 89,600 the total number of infections.
The agency also said that the death toll since the outbreak started in the city of Wuhan stands at 4,634 with no new deaths.
According to the government, 422 patients remain in the hospital with 16 of them in critical condition.
