Key points
The total number of coronavirus cases in Turkey has risen above 300,000, the health ministry said, as authorities struggle to contain a resurgence in the outbreak.
The ministry said there were 1,538 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 301,348. The death toll rose by 68 to 7,445.
President Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday the government needs to ramp up measures to curb the rise in cases, which has also prompted protests from doctors who say official data underplays the scale of the outbreak.
Sindh Minister for Energy Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh said that he has tested positive for the coronavirus.
In a statement, he said that he got his test for Covid-19 done after experiencing symptoms of fever and a sore throat, which came back positive. He said that he has isolated himself after the result.
11 more teachers have tested positive for the coronavirus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's educational institutions, taking the total to 30 since random sampling began.
According to the KP health department, two of the infected teachers belong to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University, Peshawar, one to Sarhad University, Peshawar, and eight others to government higher secondary schools in Kohat, Charsadda and Upper Kurram.
All affected teachers have been asked to self-quarantine, however, their educational institutions remain open.
Britain is likely to need to reintroduce some national coronavirus lockdown measures sooner rather than later, a leading epidemiologist and former senior government health adviser has said.
Neil Ferguson, a professor of epidemiology at London’s Imperial College, told the BBC the country was facing a “perfect storm” of rising infections as people return to work and school. “I think some additional measures are likely to be needed sooner rather than later,” he said.
“Right now we’re at about the levels of infection we were seeing in this country in late February, and if we leave it another two to four weeks we’ll be back at levels we were seeing more back in mid-March, and that’s going to — or could — cause deaths,” Ferguson said.
A sudden jump in France’s daily death toll from Covid-19 stems from previously unreported cases in one hospital near Paris, according to statements by health authorities.
The health ministry reported on Friday that the total number of deaths from Covid-19 increased by 154 to 31,249, a four-month high in the daily death toll and triple the levels of the past week.
That figure included 76 deaths registered in a hospital near Paris, according to an explanatory note issued online by Santé Publique France, the country’s national health agency that reports new Covid-19 cases every day.
Indonesia has reported its biggest daily rise in coronavirus infections, with 4,168 new cases, taking the total to 240,687, data from the country's health ministry showed.
The data added 112 new deaths, taking the total to 9,448, the biggest death toll in Southeast Asia.
The University of Balochistan has decided to discontinue in-person classes on its campus due to "increasing trend of Covid-19 positivity" at the varsity, Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani said in a tweet.
A notification by the university said hostels on its campus will also remain closed until further orders.
Iran's coronavirus death toll has risen by 166 to 24,118, a health ministry spokeswoman told state TV, Reuters reported.
The total number of identified cases spiked by 2,845 in the last 24 hours to 419,043 in Iran, one of the Middle East's worst-hit countries, spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari was quoted as saying.
India’s parliament session that began this week is likely to be cut short after 30 lawmakers were found infected with the coronavirus, two senior parliament officials said, as the number of cases in the country rose to 5.3 million.
“Since the commencement of the session the number of positive cases have gone up so the government is thinking of cutting short the session,” said one of the two officials, who are involved in the functioning of parliament proceedings, according to Reuters.
The lawmakers who have been infected include Nitin Gadkari, highways and medium and small enterprises minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to retain the one meter social distance requirement on public transport to reduce coronavirus infections, rejecting moves to reduce it to 30 centimetres, his spokesman has said.
Health experts have warned that reducing gaps between passengers in trains, buses and jeepneys could result in a surge of infections in the Philippines, which has the most confirmed Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia.
Duterte studied recommendations and decided to retain the one meter distancing requirement, including a ban on eating and speaking in public transport, presidential spokesman Harry Roque told state-run PTV4 network. Passengers still need to wear face shield and mask at all times, he added.
Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani has said that four more schools in Karachi have been sealed due to non-implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, he said that one of the schools was sealed after two teachers at the institution tested positive for coronavirus. Ghani said that the government was strictly monitoring the situation.
"I acknowledge that shutdown due to Covid has badly affected education and private schools are facing problems trying to stay alive. But for us, the health of our children is more important than their loss of education and problems of private schools," he said.
India has maintained its surge in coronavirus cases, adding 93,337 new confirmed infections in the past 24 hours.
The Health Ministry has raised the nation’s caseload to more than 5.3 million out of the nearly 1.4 billion people. It said 1,247 more people died in the past 24 hours for a total of 85,619. The country has over a million active cases with about 80 per cent recovery rate.
According to AP, India has been reporting the highest single-day rise in the world every day for more than five weeks. It is expected to become the pandemic’s worst-hit country within weeks, surpassing the United States.
The global Covid-19 death toll has risen to over 951,000, according to the Coronavirus Resource Centre at the Johns Hopkins University.
The highest number of fatalities have been reported by the United States with 198,589 deaths, followed by Brazil with 135,793 and India with more than 85,000 fatalities.
More than 20.8 million people have recovered from the coronavirus worldwide, according to Reuters.
Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood has said that the decision to reopen schools in the country was taken with great care.
In a tweet, he said that the health of students was the government's first priority and that any decision made would be guided by the advice of the health ministry.
"Having said that, the six-month closure deeply affected students. The decision to open was taken with great care. Any hasty decision to close will destroy education."
He added that 90 per cent of government and some private schools did not have online teaching facilities. "When these institutions close down, most students get no education at all. The loss of learning is immense and can take years to recover.
"While health is a priority, this factor must be kept in mind."
Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir have collectively reported 103 coronavirus cases and one death during the last 24 hours.
Here is a breakdown of the cases and deaths recorded during this period:
Punjab has reported 130 coronavirus cases and one death during the last 24 hours.
The provincial total has risen to 98,272 while the death toll is 2,226.
Pakistan has reported 361 Covid-19 recoveries during the last 24 hours, according to the government's portal for tracking the spread of the virus in the country.
The total has risen to 292,044 while the recovery rate is 95.7 per cent.
Canada's conservative opposition leader Erin O'Toole has tested positive for the new coronavirus, his office announced, one day after another federal party leader did, too.
Both O'Toole and Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet were “feeling well” and were self-isolating, according to statements. Each had had close contact with staffers who tested positive for the Covid-19 illness.
O'Toole said he is “very relieved that his wife and children have tested negative”, AFP reported.
The Australian state at the centre of the country’s coronavirus outbreak has reported its lowest daily increase of infections in three months, putting it on course to relax a hard lockdown in the capital city by the end of the month.
Victoria, Australia’s second-most populous state and home to a quarter of its 25 million people, recorded 21 new cases of the virus that causes Covid-19 in the prior 24 hours, less than half the previous day’s number and its lowest since June 24, Reuters reported.
“Those numbers tell a powerful story of what can be achieved when you stay the course, when you don’t get sidetracked by some of the loudest voices, who I understand are hurting and want to open up,” state Premier Daniel Andrews told a news conference.
US President Donald Trump has said he expects enough Covid-19 vaccines “for every American” will be produced by next April, and that the first doses will be distributed immediately after approval later this year.
Claiming “historic progress” with three vaccines in the final stages of development and trials, Trump said at least 100 million doses would be manufactured by the end of the year — perhaps more.
“Hundreds of millions of doses will be available every month, and we expect to have enough vaccines for every American by April,” he said, according to AFP.
Trump also vowed to get the vaccine out with lightning speed, saying: “I think distribution will go even quicker than most people think.”
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Friday endorsed the use of the steroid dexamethasone to treat oxygen-starved patients of Covid-19, AFP reports.
The EU drug watchdog said in a statement that dexamethasone can be a treatment option for patients who require oxygen therapy.
“Based on the review of available data, EMA is endorsing the use of dexamethasone in adults and adolescents (from 12 years of age and weighing at least 40 kilograms) who require supplemental oxygen therapy,” it said.
A UK study showed in July that 29 percent of coronavirus patients on ventilators who received dexamethasone died within 28 days of starting the treatment, compared to 41 percent of those not given it.
In patients who received oxygen without ventilation, the figures were 23 per cent with dexamethasone and 26pc without.
The regional government of the Spanish capital Madrid ordered a lockdown from Monday in some of the poorer areas of the city and its outskirts that are home to about 850,000 people, after a surge in coronavirus infections there, according to Reuters.
Regional leader Isabel Diaz Ayuso said on Friday movement between and within areas in six badly affected districts would be restricted, but people would not be stopped from going to work in the hardest-hit region in Spain.
At over 620,000, Spain has had the highest number of coronavirus cases in Western Europe.
37 school teachers in Gilgit-Baltistan have tested positive for the coronavirus this week, an official said.
A total of 794 tests were carried out during the last three days out of which 37 teachers' tests came back positive, according to the region's Covid-19 focal person, Dr Shah Zaman. He said most of the teachers who tested positive belonged to government schools.
Zaman said infections in GB were rising due to tourism activities and Muharram gatherings.
Sindh has recorded 237 new Covid-19 cases and four deaths in the past 24 hours, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah's office said.
So far, 133,362 confirmed cases have been reported in Sindh and 2,459 people have died from the virus.
Additionally, 154 coronavirus patients in the province recovered over the past 24 hours, the chief minister said. The total number of recoveries recorded in Sindh so far is 128,145.
Russia has approved R-Pharm's Coronavir treatment for outpatients with mild to moderate Covid-19 infections and the antiviral drug could be rolled out to pharmacies in the country as soon as next week, Reuters quoted the company as saying on Friday.
Coronavir's approval follows the green light for another Russian Covid-19 drug, Avifavir, in May. Both are based on favipiravir, which was developed in Japan and is widely used as the basis for viral treatments.
R-Pharm's announcement is another sign Russia is pushing hard to take a global lead in the race against the virus. It is already exporting its Covid-19 tests and has clinched several international deals for supplies of its Sputnik-V vaccine.
R-Pharm said it received approval for Coronavir after Phase III clinical trials involving 168 patients with Covid-19.
Israel entered a second nationwide lockdown on Friday at the onset of the Jewish high-holiday season, forcing residents to stay mostly at home amid a resurgence in new coronavirus cases, Reuters reports.
A lockdown was imposed in late March and eased in May as new cases tapered off, reaching single-digit lows, but in the past week, new cases have reached daily highs of more than 5,000.
Israeli leaders have acknowledged they lifted measures too soon, but the move to reimpose sweeping restrictions has angered residents struggling amid an economic downturn.
“I strongly oppose lockdown. I feel like this is a mistake by the government I voted for, and I think that our freedoms and economy are destroyed by this decision,” Jerusalem resident David Khosid said. Israel's unemployment rate is over 20 per cent.
The new lockdown, due to last three weeks, coincides with the start of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, traditionally a time for large family gatherings.
Well-developed digital infrastructure has helped the Nordic economies weather the pandemic better than most of Europe, Reuters reported.
“Better digital infrastructure means we were quicker at being able to work from home. The infrastructure is there and we are used to using it,” said Robert Bergqvist, chief economist at Swedish bank SEB.
Britain’s economy contracted by around a fifth in the second quarter, Spain registered an 18.5 per cent drop, while the euro zone economy as a whole shrank 11.8pc.
In contrast, Finland’s GDP fell just 4.5pc although Sweden and Norway saw larger hits of 8.3pc and 6.3pc respectively.
Financial leaders from China, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia have vowed to redouble their efforts to help the region recover economically from the novel coronavirus and to defend a multilateral system of trade and investment, Reuters reported.
“We will remain vigilant to the continued downside risks [...] We are taking steps to reduce vulnerabilities to these risks and are determined to continue to use all available policy tools to support the sustained recovery,” they said in a joint statement.
Britain's health minister has said that the novel coronavirus was accelerating across the country with hospital admissions doubling every eight days but refused to say whether or not another national lockdown would be imposed next month, Reuters reported.
“The number of people in hospital is doubling every eight days or so [...] we will do what it takes to keep people safe,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
Asked about a second lockdown, he said: “I can't give you that answer now.”
Pakistan has reported more than 700 coronavirus cases for the first time in more than a month. According to data collected by Dawn.com, 722 cases were reported in the country on September 17.
The last time the country recorded more than 700 cases was on August 12 when 711 cases were reported over 24 hours.
Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir have collectively reported 94 Covid-19 cases and three deaths during the last 24 hours.
Here is a breakdown of the cases and deaths recorded:
Punjab has reported 101 coronavirus cases and two deaths during the last 24 hours.
The provincial total has risen to 98,142 while the death toll is 2,225.
Pakistan has reported 514 Covid-19 recoveries during the last 24 hours, according to the government's portal for tracking the spread of the virus.
The total has risen to 291,683 while the recovery rate is 95.8 per cent.
With six frontrunners in the race to develop a vaccine for Covid-19, Pakistan has begun efforts to build a system to provide a vaccine across the country.
“Though it is a fact that there is currently no vaccine available internationally, we need to develop a mechanism to ensure that a vaccine can reach every part of the country within a few days of becoming available on the market,” Health Services Academy Cice Chancellor and chair of the National Vaccine Committee, Dr Asad Hafeez, told Dawn.
“We will have to register the vaccine, and after that there will be a hectic exercise to ensure the vaccine is available across the country. There are around six front runners globally, and as a vaccine will be used across the country a plan is being prepared to distribute it at the provincial and district levels,” he said.
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Guidance about novel coronavirus testing posted last month on the website of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was not written by the agency’s scientists and was posted over their objections, the New York Times has reported citing people familiar with the matter and internal documents.
Under the guidance, it was not necessary to test people with no symptoms of Covid-19 — the potentially fatal disease caused by the virus — even if they had been exposed to the virus.
The agency’s previous position recommended testing all people who have had close contact with anyone diagnosed with Covid-19. The reversal shocked doctors and politicians and prompted accusations of political interference, according to Reuters.
Read full story here.
The number of coronavirus cases registered worldwide have topped 30 million, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.
The grim landmark came as the World Health Organisation warned of “alarming rates of transmission” of Covid-19 across Europe.
The tallies , probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections. Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases. The United States has the highest national figures, followed by India and Brazil.
Manufacturing and government sources tell Reuters that more than half a dozen so-called antigen tests will likely be authorised by the end of October. US regulators in recent months have authorised antigen tests from Abbott Laboratories, Becton Dickinson & Co, Quidel Corp and LumiraDX.
When planned production of the newly authorised tests are combined with previously approved diagnostics, overall monthly US testing capacity will exceed 200 million per month by year end, these sources said.
A sharp deterioration in turnaround times and availability of Covid-19 tests in Britain saw the government admit there were challenges to its testing regime that it says has been swamped by demand amid a spike in cases.
The British government has been under intense pressure over the buckling of its promised “world-beating” system to test and trace coronavirus cases, meant to protect the country from a second wave of infection as schools reopened this month.
“There’s a challenge in testing,” UK health minister Matt Hancock said, adding that capacity for testing was growing. “The challenge is that demand has gone up faster.”
Austria announced Thursday that private indoor gatherings would be limited to 10 people in the battle to contain a second wave of coronavirus infections, according to AFP.
“From midnight on Monday ... all parties, private events and meetings indoors are limited to ten people,” Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told a press conference.
“We have an exponential rise in new infections in Austria,” he said, adding that the country was going through a second wave of the pandemic.
Funerals will be exempt from the new rules and the limit for outdoors will remain at 100, Kurz said, with further exemptions for some cultural events.
He admitted it would not be legally possible to enforce the new limit in people's homes but added that he hoped Austrians would follow the rule.
Also from Monday, cafe and restaurant customers will have to wear a mask whenever they're not at their tables.
One in seven cases of Covid-19 reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) is a health worker and in some countries that figure rises to one in three, the agency said.
“Globally around 14 per cent of Covid cases reported to the WHO are among health workers and in some countries it's as much as 35pc,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, Reuters reported.
He added data was limited and it was hard to know if people were infected at work or in their communities.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has said that 307 coronavirus cases and four deaths were reported during the province in the last 24 hours.
In a statement, he said 13,787 tests were carried out during this period. With the new cases, the provincial total has risen to 133,125 while the death toll is 2,455.
At 0.05 per cent, Singapore's death rate is well below the global average of around 3pc, according to data compiled by Reuters from countries that have recorded more than 1,000 cases.
A comparison with countries with a similar sized population shows a stark difference — Denmark's death rate is around 3pc, while Finland's is around 4pc. Furthermore, nobody has died from the disease in Singapore for more than two months, according to its health ministry. The country's leading disease experts said the following are the main factors behind the phenomenon:
infection demographics
aggressive testing
hospitalisation
mandatory masks