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Coronavirus live news: 'We cannot give up' warns WHO chief; protests flare in Italy Coronavirus live news: 'We cannot give up' warns WHO chief; protests flare in Italy
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Protests against Covid restrictions turn violent in Milan and Turin; US deaths up 10%; Pope to celebrate Christmas without congregation. Follow the latest updatesProtests against Covid restrictions turn violent in Milan and Turin; US deaths up 10%; Pope to celebrate Christmas without congregation. Follow the latest updates
Wild vampire bats socially distance when they are sick, a new study suggests. Scientists had previously seen this behaviour in lab conditions, but wanted to find out if it occurred in the wild.PA media reports that the researchers captured 31 adult female vampire bats from a hollow tree in Lamanai, Belize. The team injected half the bats with lipopolysaccharide, an immune-challenging substance, to make them sick while the other half received saline injections.
The researchers then glued proximity sensors to the bats and released them back into their tree.
The team tracked changes over time in the associations among the 16 sick bats and 15 control bats.The researchers found that the animals that were ill spent less time near others, associated with fewer group mates and were less socially connected to those that were healthy.The study, published in Behavioural Ecology, found that in the six hours after injection, a sick bat associated on average with four fewer associates than a bat that had been injected with saline.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 11,409 to 449,275, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday.The reported death toll rose by 42 to 10,098, the tally showed.
Angela Merkel has reportedly warned colleagues on Monday that Germany is on the verge of losing control of its fight against the coronavirus. In an indication of the growing concern, Merkel brought forward a meeting on additional coronavirus restrictions with the leaders of Germany’s 16 states from Friday to Wednesday.
New Zealand farmers are so desperate for workers that they are offering unlimited supplies of free meat, milk, honey and firewood to tempt employees onto remote properties.New Zealand farmers are so desperate for workers that they are offering unlimited supplies of free meat, milk, honey and firewood to tempt employees onto remote properties.
The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, ordered the closure of her country’s borders in mid-March, sparing New Zealand the worst of Covid-19.The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, ordered the closure of her country’s borders in mid-March, sparing New Zealand the worst of Covid-19.
Despite being hailed as a global success story for fighting and managing the disease, the hard border shutdown and multiple lockdowns have taken a toll on the economy, with the country now officially in recession after the economy contracted 12%.Despite being hailed as a global success story for fighting and managing the disease, the hard border shutdown and multiple lockdowns have taken a toll on the economy, with the country now officially in recession after the economy contracted 12%.
With a population of just 5 million, many New Zealand industries are heavily reliant on migrant labour, including in tourism, horticulture and farming:With a population of just 5 million, many New Zealand industries are heavily reliant on migrant labour, including in tourism, horticulture and farming:
A little more about Demon Slayer:A little more about Demon Slayer:
Fans of the franchise include the chief cabinet secretary, Katsunobu Kato, who mentioned the movie at a recent press briefing, according to Bloomberg. “In the midst of the pandemic, the record box-office has contributed greatly to the movie industry,” he told reporters, adding that he had watched some of the TV series.Based on a manga series by Koyoharu Gotoge that appeared in 2016, the film is set in Japan around 100 years ago and centres on an adolescent boy who fights human-eating demons after his family is slaughtered and his younger sister is turned into a demon.The manga, which was later turned into a TV series that aired last year, has sold over 100 million copies in Japan, has been translated into 14 languages and is available in 33 countries, according to publisher Shueisha.Anticipation is growing that the Haruo Sotozaki-directed film will overtake Miyazaki’s Spirited Away - which went on to amass ticket sales of ¥ 30.8bn - to become the highest-grossing Japanese movie ever.Aniplex said English-dubbed and subtitled versions are due for release in North America early next year.Fans of the franchise include the chief cabinet secretary, Katsunobu Kato, who mentioned the movie at a recent press briefing, according to Bloomberg. “In the midst of the pandemic, the record box-office has contributed greatly to the movie industry,” he told reporters, adding that he had watched some of the TV series.Based on a manga series by Koyoharu Gotoge that appeared in 2016, the film is set in Japan around 100 years ago and centres on an adolescent boy who fights human-eating demons after his family is slaughtered and his younger sister is turned into a demon.The manga, which was later turned into a TV series that aired last year, has sold over 100 million copies in Japan, has been translated into 14 languages and is available in 33 countries, according to publisher Shueisha.Anticipation is growing that the Haruo Sotozaki-directed film will overtake Miyazaki’s Spirited Away - which went on to amass ticket sales of ¥ 30.8bn - to become the highest-grossing Japanese movie ever.Aniplex said English-dubbed and subtitled versions are due for release in North America early next year.
Not even a global pandemic has been able to deter people in Japan from flocking to cinemas. Demon Slayer, an anime based on a popular manga and TV series, has set a new record after it generated ticket sales of ¥10.75bn ($102.48 million) in its first 10 days, according to the film’s distributor.No film in Japan has ever achieved ¥10bn in ticket sales in such a short space of time, with the previous record-holder, Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 animated film Spirited Away, taking 25 days to reach the milestone. By Monday, 7.98m people had seen Demon Slayer at 403 cinemas, according to co-distributors Aniplex and Toho.Not even a global pandemic has been able to deter people in Japan from flocking to cinemas. Demon Slayer, an anime based on a popular manga and TV series, has set a new record after it generated ticket sales of ¥10.75bn ($102.48 million) in its first 10 days, according to the film’s distributor.No film in Japan has ever achieved ¥10bn in ticket sales in such a short space of time, with the previous record-holder, Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 animated film Spirited Away, taking 25 days to reach the milestone. By Monday, 7.98m people had seen Demon Slayer at 403 cinemas, according to co-distributors Aniplex and Toho.
Cinemas were closed during Japan’s seven-week state of emergency, but audiences are rediscovering their appetite for big-screen entertainment after they were permitted to fill all their seats from 19 September.Japan continues to report several hundred coronavirus cases a day but has avoided an explosion in infectionsand the large number of deaths seen in the US, Britain, Brazil and other countries.As of Monday, Japan had recorded 98,331 cases and 1,741 deaths, according to a tally by public broadcaster NHK.Cinemas were closed during Japan’s seven-week state of emergency, but audiences are rediscovering their appetite for big-screen entertainment after they were permitted to fill all their seats from 19 September.Japan continues to report several hundred coronavirus cases a day but has avoided an explosion in infectionsand the large number of deaths seen in the US, Britain, Brazil and other countries.As of Monday, Japan had recorded 98,331 cases and 1,741 deaths, according to a tally by public broadcaster NHK.
US election 2020 podcast: are Democrats taking black voters for granted in Wisconsin?US election 2020 podcast: are Democrats taking black voters for granted in Wisconsin?
The Guardian US reporter Kenya Evelyn grew up in Milwaukee, in the swing state of Wisconsin. She recently returned to see how this year’s pandemic, recession and Black Lives Matter protests are shifting the city’s politics:The Guardian US reporter Kenya Evelyn grew up in Milwaukee, in the swing state of Wisconsin. She recently returned to see how this year’s pandemic, recession and Black Lives Matter protests are shifting the city’s politics:
In very nice news that stems at least partially from free time created by the coronavirus pandemic:In very nice news that stems at least partially from free time created by the coronavirus pandemic:
Kazakhstan, the home country of the fictional Borat Sagdiyev, has adopted the brash, moustachioed character’s catchphrase – “Very nice!” – for a new tourism campaign.Kazakhstan, the home country of the fictional Borat Sagdiyev, has adopted the brash, moustachioed character’s catchphrase – “Very nice!” – for a new tourism campaign.
The idea for the campaign came from American Dennis Keen, who travelled to the country on a high school exchange, then studied with a Kazakh professor at Stanford University. He now lives in Almaty, where he gives walking tours.The idea for the campaign came from American Dennis Keen, who travelled to the country on a high school exchange, then studied with a Kazakh professor at Stanford University. He now lives in Almaty, where he gives walking tours.
With a lot of time on his hands due to the coronavirus pandemic, he and a friend pitched the idea to the Kazakh tourism board and “immediately” got the go-ahead to make four 12-second ads:With a lot of time on his hands due to the coronavirus pandemic, he and a friend pitched the idea to the Kazakh tourism board and “immediately” got the go-ahead to make four 12-second ads:
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday he would favour a government-to-government deal for the purchase of coronavirus vaccines to prevent the risk of corruption, Reuters reports. “Let me tell everybody that we will not beg, we will pay,” Duterte said in a weekly televised address. “To the Chinese government, you need not look for partners, we can make it government-to-government.”The Philippines has the second-highest number of Covid-19 infections and deaths in Southeast Asia behind Indonesia.Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday he would favour a government-to-government deal for the purchase of coronavirus vaccines to prevent the risk of corruption, Reuters reports. “Let me tell everybody that we will not beg, we will pay,” Duterte said in a weekly televised address. “To the Chinese government, you need not look for partners, we can make it government-to-government.”The Philippines has the second-highest number of Covid-19 infections and deaths in Southeast Asia behind Indonesia.
The US supreme court has sided with Republicans to prevent Wisconsin from counting mail-in ballots that are received after election day.The US supreme court has sided with Republicans to prevent Wisconsin from counting mail-in ballots that are received after election day.
In a 5-3 ruling, the justices on Monday refused to reinstate a lower court order that called for mailed ballots to be counted if they are received up to six days after the 3 November election. A federal appeals court had already put that order on hold.In a 5-3 ruling, the justices on Monday refused to reinstate a lower court order that called for mailed ballots to be counted if they are received up to six days after the 3 November election. A federal appeals court had already put that order on hold.
The ruling awards a victory for Republicans in their crusade against expanding voting rights and access. It also came just moments before the Republican-controlled Senate voted to confirm Amy Coney Barrett, a victory for the right that locks in a conservative majority on the nation’s highest court for years to come.The ruling awards a victory for Republicans in their crusade against expanding voting rights and access. It also came just moments before the Republican-controlled Senate voted to confirm Amy Coney Barrett, a victory for the right that locks in a conservative majority on the nation’s highest court for years to come.
“As the Covid pandemic rages, the court has failed to adequately protect the nation’s voters,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a dissent that noted the state allowed the six-day extension for primary voting in April and that roughly 80,000 ballots were received after the day of the primary election:“As the Covid pandemic rages, the court has failed to adequately protect the nation’s voters,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a dissent that noted the state allowed the six-day extension for primary voting in April and that roughly 80,000 ballots were received after the day of the primary election:
Mainland China reported 16 new confirmed Covid-19 cases on Oct. 26, down from 20 a day earlier, the country’s health authorities said on Tuesday.The number of new asymptomatic cases also fell to 50, from 161 reported a day earlier amid a fresh wave of symptomless infections being reported in the northwestern Xinjiang region.Xinjiang’s authorities said separately that 26 new asymptomatic cases were reported on Oct. 26, down from 137 a day earlier.China does not classify asymptomatic infections as confirmed Covid-19 cases. The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 85,826, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.Mainland China reported 16 new confirmed Covid-19 cases on Oct. 26, down from 20 a day earlier, the country’s health authorities said on Tuesday.The number of new asymptomatic cases also fell to 50, from 161 reported a day earlier amid a fresh wave of symptomless infections being reported in the northwestern Xinjiang region.Xinjiang’s authorities said separately that 26 new asymptomatic cases were reported on Oct. 26, down from 137 a day earlier.China does not classify asymptomatic infections as confirmed Covid-19 cases. The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 85,826, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.
The Australian state of Victoria, the epicentre of Covid-19 infections, said on Tuesday it had gone 48 hours without detecting any new cases for the first time in more than seven months.Reuters: Victoria, the second most populous state, will allow restaurants and cafes in Melbourne to reopen from Wednesday after more than three months under a stringent lockdown.Despite case numbers dwindling and businesses poised to reopen, Victoria will only ease limits on social gatherings in the home, allowing two adults and dependents from one house to make one daily visit to one other household.Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said the highest risk of spreading the virus remained in the family home where social distancing protocols were often not applied.“This is just about making sure that people can connect, but we can’t have a situation where people are having visitors in the morning, visitors at lunchtime, visitors in the evening,” Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.“What we, all of us as Victorians, have built is a precious thing, but it is fragile.”
Mexico’s health ministry reported on Monday 4,166 additional cases of the novel coronavirus and 247 more deaths in the country, bringing the official number of cases to 895,326 and the death toll to 89,171.Health officials have said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases. On Sunday, the ministry said the true death toll from Covid-19 may be around 50,000 higher.
The UK hotel industry could take four years to return to 2019 levels of business, even if an effective vaccine helps the sector to recover from the deep financial hit caused by Covid 19.
The daily revenue per hotel room – a key indicator for the sector – is not expected to revive to 2019 levels until 2024 in London, and 2023 across the rest of the UK, according to forecasts published on Tuesday by the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Renewed lockdowns, the decline in foreign tourist numbers and the near disappearance of business travel have left hotels struggling to attract customers, with a dramatic effect on their earnings:
Pope Francis will have to forego meeting Catholics at the annual Advent and Christmas masses in the Vatican owing to the resurgent coronavirus pandemic, the specialist Catholic News Agency reported on Monday.
The 83-year-old pontiff was deprived of a congregation at Easter when he had to celebrate mass at Saint Peter’s with very few people present.
In a letter to foreign envoys to the Vatican, its foreign minister informed them that Christmas ceremonies would take “a private form” this year.
Members of the diplomatic corps would not be present, and events would be made available online, a document seen by CNA said.
Tens of thousands of Catholics typically visit Rome in December to attend services at the Vatican.
More from Italy:
The protests began shortly after the national government’s order took effect requiring bars, cafes and restaurants to close their doors at 6 p.m. for the next 30 days as Italy tries to rein the resurgence of coronavirus infections in recent weeks.Since most Italians don’t dine out before 7:30 p.m. at the earliest, the decree effectively wiped out most of the restaurants’ already reduced revenue in the pandemic, although takeout and delivery can continue until midnight.The crackdown was announced Sunday, a day after Italy registered more than a half million confirmed coronavirus cases since the pandemic’s outbreak.Last week, a peaceful march by shopkeepers and other business owners in Naples, upset about a regional curfew that orders citizens off the streets at 11pm, turned violent near the Campania region’s headquarters. Investigators were quoted in Italian media as saying the violence, in which police officers were injured, bore the hand of the Camorra, the local organized crime group.A day later, an extreme right political group staged a violent demonstration in downtown Rome.Smaller cities, including Catania in Sicily, and towns also saw protests Monday. In Cremona, a town in northern Lombardy, restaurant owners turned out in front of the local interior ministry’s office. After banging pots and bans, they left them piled up in the street to highlight their economic woes worsened by the latest early-shutdown decree, the ANSA news agency said.
Protesters turned out by the hundreds in Turin, Milan and other Italian cities and towns Monday to vent their anger, sometimes violently, at the latest pandemic restrictions that force restaurants and cafes to close early and shutter cinemas, gyms and other leisure venues, AP reports. In the northern city of Turin, some demonstrators broke off from a peaceful protest, smashing store windows on an elegant shopping street, setting smoke bombs and hurling bottles at police in a main city square where the Piedmont regional government is headquartered, RAI state TV said.A photographer was injured by a hurled bottle, RAI said. Police fired tear gas to clear the protesters in Piazza del Castello.In that same square, hours earlier, some 300 taxis peacefully lined up in neat rows to draw attention to their economic losses from the implosion of tourism and disappearance of workers from the city center as they do their jobs remotely during the pandemic.Triggering the violence in Turin were a group of “ultras,” as violent soccer fans are known, the LaPresse news agency said. It said five of the protesters were detained by authorities.In Italy’s business capital, Milan, police used tear gas to scatter protesters Monday night, and an Associated Press journalist saw at least two people detained.
Stock markets have opened sharply down in Asia Pacific on Tuesday, taking their cue from the US and Europe where shares fell on Monday amid concerns that the second wave of coronavirus is not being contained. In Sydney the ASX200 has fallen 1.2% and the Dow Jones New Zealand is down 1.3%. Markets in Asia are set to follow suit.
Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist, CMC Markets and Stockbroking in Sydney, said:
“The challenge for markets is that in most cases they are already pricing a very strong economic bounce. The new outbreaks, and the potential for a double-dip recession, directly contradict this assumption.
Asia Pacific markets are under pressure, with futures markets indicating opening falls for stocks. Trade data released this morning in New Zealand is broadly in line with forecasts, although the trade balance for the year was better than expected. China industrial profits and Hong Kong trade numbers could also shape trading today.
The World Health Organization chief warned Monday that abandoning efforts to control the coronavirus pandemic, as suggested by a top US official, was “dangerous”, urging countries not to “give up”, AFP reports.
He acknowledged that after months of battling the new coronavirus, which has claimed more than 1.1 million lives globally, a certain level of “pandemic fatigue” had set in.
“It’s tough and the fatigue is real,” Tedros said. “But we cannot give up,” he added, urging leaders to “balance the disruption to lives and livelihoods”.
His comments came a day after US President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows told CNN that the administration’s focus had moved to mitigation, not stamping out the virus.
“We’re not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigations,” Meadows said, comparing the more deadly Covid-19 to the seasonal flu.
Asked about Meadows’ comments, Tedros said he agreed that focusing on mitigation, and especially on protecting the vulnerable, was important. Tedros stressed that mitigation and controlling the pandemic were “not contradictory. We can do both.”
Deaths per day from the coronavirus in the US are on the rise again, just as health experts had feared, and cases are climbing in practically every state, despite assurances from President Donald Trump over the weekend that “we’re rounding the turn, we’re doing great.”AP: With Election Day just over a week away, average deaths per day across the country are up 10% over the past two weeks, from 721 to nearly 794 as of Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Newly confirmed infections per day are rising in 47 states, and deaths are up in 34.
Deaths are still well below the US peak of over 2,200 per day in late April. But experts are warning of a grim fall and winter, with a widely cited model from the University of Washington projecting about 386,000 dead by 1 February. A vaccine is unlikely to become widely available until mid-2021.The seven-day rolling average for daily new cases hit a record high on Sunday of 68,767, according to Johns Hopkins, eclipsing the previous mark of 67,293, set in mid-July. The US recorded more than 80,000 new cases on both Friday and Saturday — the highest marks ever — though testing has expanded dramatically over the course of the outbreak, making direct comparisons problematic.
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
I’m Helen Sullivan, you can get in touch with me here, and this is the place to be for the latest global developments in the coronavirus pandemic.
Protests against Covid-19 restrictions are intensifying in Northern Italy. Witnesses said a number of luxury stores, including a Gucci fashion shop, were ransacked in central Turin as police responded with volleys of tear gas as they tried to restore order in the city. There were also clashes in Milan, the capital of the neighbouring Lombardy region, an area that has borne the brunt of the Covid-19 epidemic in Italy.
Meanwhile the World Health Organization chief warned Monday that abandoning efforts to control the coronavirus pandemic, as suggested by a top US official, was “dangerous”, urging countries not to “give up”.
“We must not give up,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing.
He acknowledged that after months of battling the new coronavirus, which has claimed more than 1.1 million lives globally, a certain level of “pandemic fatigue” had set in.
Here are the other key developments from the last few hours:
France alone may be experiencing 100,000 new coronavirus cases per day – double the latest official figures – Prof Jean-François Delfraissy, who heads the scientific council that advises the government on the pandemic, said. Tougher coronavirus containment measures could be announced in the country later this week.
Czech government tightens coronavirus measures with curfew and retail curbs. The Czech government has ordered a 9pm curfew and will limit retail sales on Sundays, as part of tighter measures adopted to stem a surge in Covid-19 infections.
Germany is on the verge of losing control of its fight against the coronavirus, Angela Merkel has reportedly warned colleagues. In an indication of the growing concern, Merkel brought forward a meeting on additional coronavirus restrictions with the leaders of Germany’s 16 states from Friday to Wednesday.
Belgium’s intensive care units will be overrun in a fortnight if the rate of infection continues, a spokesman for country’s Covid-19 crisis centre has said. Dr Yves Van Laethem said the 2,000 intensive care beds would be full with patients without a change of course. On Monday morning, new regulations came into force in Brussels.
Italians have been advised against trips to other European countries because of surging coronavirus cases, with the foreign ministry warning they could get trapped overseas if travel bans became necessary.