Global Coronavirus Updates, Sept 18: First case-free day for New Zealand in 5 weeks; Texas eases virus rules

Fri Sep 18 09:40:17 CAT 2020

 <http://www.finsec.co.zw/> 

Global Coronavirus Updates, Sept 18: First case-free day for New Zealand in 5 weeks; Texas eases virus rules

Global Coronavirus Updates: Of the global Covid-19 caseload of more than 30 million, the US has 6,674,458 infections, followed by India, which has over five million cases, and Brazil with 4,455,386 cases.

Zimbabwe COVID19 Update

COVID-19 Update: As at 17 September 2020, Zimbabwe had 7 633 confirmed cases, including 5 841 recoveries and 224 deaths.

Coronavirus Global Updates: The total number of coronavirus cases across the world crossed the 30 million mark to reach 30,071,368 on Friday, while the death toll rose to 944,887. As many as 20,439,652 people have recovered as of now. Of the total caseload, the United States has recorded 6,674,458 infections and 1,97,633 deaths followed by India, which has over five million cases.

Clowns Perlita and Tapetito, wearing protective gear amid the new coronavirus pandemic, speak with resident Enrique Zeballos as they arrive to disinfect his home free of charge, in El Alto, Bolivia, Friday. (AP)

Brazil has 4,455,386 cases while Russia has 1,081,152, followed by Peru (744,400), Colombia (736,377), Mexico (684,113) and South Africa (655,572), according to the data by John Hopkins University.

Here are the top developments globally:

First case-free day for New Zealand in five weeks

New Zealand has reported no new confirmed cases of the coronavirus for the first time in more than five weeks. Friday’s report also marked the fourth consecutive day without any cases of community transmission. All recent cases have been found among quarantined travelers returning from abroad.

Authorities have still not pinpointed the origin of the outbreak in Auckland in August, which they believe was imported. The city had been temporarily placed in lockdown. New Zealand has reported just over 1,800 cases and 25 deaths.

Health officials from the district office wearing protective gears disinfect as a precaution against the coronavirus as a man wearing a face mask rides a motorcycle in Incheon, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

China to make decision on WHO vaccine program snubbed by Trump

China faces a major test in its vaccine diplomacy, with a deadline fast approaching on whether it will officially join a World Health Organization-backed effort to ensure everyone across the globe is inoculated against Covid-19.

Friday is the final day for governments to decide whether to take part in Covax, an $18 billion initiative that aspires to give lower-income countries the same access to vaccines as wealthier nations. Beijing has said it “supports” Covax without clearly saying if it’s putting any money into the project. The confirmed list of participants will be published on Monday, Sept. 21, according to the WHO.

Former Trump aide speaks out against him; now for Biden

A former adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, who served on the White House coronavirus task force, said President Donald Trump once suggested that Covid-19 might be a good thing because it would stop him from having to shake hands with “disgusting people”.

Olivia Troye is the latest former member of the Trump administration to speak out against him and urge voters to deny him a second term. She joins a growing list that includes Miles Taylor, former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, and former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci. Trump said Thursday that he did not know Troye, who was Pence’s homeland security adviser.

Meanwhile, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden Thursday went after Trump again and again over his handling of the pandemic, saying the President’s downplaying of Covid-19 was “criminal” and his administration was “totally irresponsible.”

“You’ve got to level with the American people — shoot from the shoulder. There’s not been a time they’ve not been able to step up. The President should step down,” Biden said to applause from a CNN drive-in town hall crowd in Moosic, outside his hometown of Scranton. Speaking about Trump’s admission that he publicly played down the impact of the virus while aware of its severity, Biden declared: “He knew it and did nothing. It’s close to criminal.”

Covid-19 hits Lebanese prison as inmates jockey for release

Lebanon’s largest prison grappled with an alarming coronavirus outbreak on Thursday as many inmates refused to take preventative measures or get tested under the impression that catching the virus could speed up their release as part of a rumored general amnesty the head of the country’s doctors union said. Over 200 of the 3000 detainees at Roumieh Prison have tested positive in recent days, Sharaf Abu Sharaf president of Lebanese Order of Physicians told The Associated Press.

The outbreak in the prison, east of Beirut, notorious for overcrowding, comes as Lebanon is witnessing a sharp increase in coronavirus cases and deaths Some detainees’ families have urged the state to issue amnesty to certain detainees to reduce the possibility of the virus sweeping through the prison population.

Texas eases virus rules as cases drop, but bars still closed

Texas is ready to relax coronavirus restrictions for the first time in months, Republican Gov Greg Abbott announced Thursday, but bars remain closed indefinitely and a mask mandate is still in place following a massive summer spread. In allowing restaurants and gyms to let more people inside, as well as lifting a ban on elective surgeries and nursing home visits under certain criteria, Abbott said a dramatic drop in hospitalised Covid-19 patients has made it possible to begin easing restrictions put in place when new cases surged in June. Texas has nearly 14,500 confirmed deaths from Covid-19, the fourth-highest in the nation with the vast majority of those deaths occurring this summer.

Hemingway’s favorite Key West bar reopens from virus closure

Sloppy Joe’s, the iconic Key West bar that Ernest Hemingway frequented during the 1930s, reopened Thursday after closing six months ago because of the coronavirus pandemic. By noon, the bar had already reached the 50 per cent capacity allowed by law, including three Ernest Hemingway look-alikes. Concerns about Covid-19 had forced cancellation of the 40th Ernest Hemingway Look-Alike Contest held at Sloppy Joe’s each July during the subtropical island’s annual Hemingway Days festival.

Charlie Boice, who won the contest in 2015, traveled nearly 250 miles (400 kilometers) from Jupiter, Florida, to attend the reopening. “Coming back to Sloppy Joe’s is a wonderful thing,” Boice said. “For most people, it’s just a destination on a cruise or a destination on vacation. But for the Papas, this is home.”

In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Ernest Hemingway look-alikes, including from left, Dusty Rhodes, Tim Stockwell and Charlie Boice chat with bartender Lou Gammel, right, at Sloppy Joe’s, Thursday, in Key West, Fla. (AP)

Bangladesh economy shows early signs of pandemic recovery

A rebound in garment orders after demand crashed during spring shutdowns is helping to revive the Bangladesh economy. Apparel makers, the country’s main export industry, say they are looking ahead to Christmas orders from the U.S. and other major markets.

Remittances from Bangladeshi workers employed overseas have also recovered, helping to relieve pressures from a pandemic quasi-shutdown during the spring. The Asian Development Bank reported this week that the economic comeback was encouraging. It is forecasting the economy will grow at a robust 6.8 per cent annual pace in the fiscal year that ends in June if current conditions persist.

Trainees work at Snowtex garment factory in Dhamrai, near Dhaka, Bangladesh. After months of decline in exports of its garment products, Bangladesh’s economy is showing signs of recovery. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad, File)

Peru president faces impeachment vote amid pandemic turmoil

Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra’s job is on the line Friday as opposition lawmakers push through an impeachment hearing criticised as a hasty and poorly timed ouster attempt in one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Lawmakers appeared to be far short of the two-thirds majority vote required to remove Vizcarra from office, but even if he dodged the impeachment attempt analysts warned that he would not escape the ordeal entirely unscathed.

His ability to carry forward the anti-corruption agenda he has sought to make the hallmark of his short but eventful administration could be further jeopardized if Vizcarra is perceived as having engaged in influence peddling himself.

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