COVID-19 Live Updates: Wearing Masks to Be Mandatory in England's Shops From 24 July

MEXICO CITY, (Sputnik) - The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mexico has increased by 4,685 within the past 24 hours and has thus surpassed 300,000, Hugo Lopez-Gatell Ramirez, the deputy health minister, said.

The death toll has risen by 485 to 35,491 within the same period of time.

"As of July 13, 2020, there are 304,435 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 28,843 of which are active and 76,824 are suspected cases of the disease," Ramirez wrote on Twitter.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Sunday that the epidemic in the country was in general declining and the economy was recovering, although COVID-19 was on the rise in nine states.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on 11 March. To date, more than 13 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 571,000 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The governor of the US state of Oregon Kate Brown in a statement warned that the COVID-19 outbreak across the state is nearly getting out of control and expanded face mask requirements.

"Today I am sounding the alarm: we are at risk of COVID-19 getting out of control in Oregon... Face coverings are required in some outdoor public spaces and indoor social get-togethers are capped at 10," Brown said via Twitter on Monday.

Starting 15 July, face masks will be required in outdoor places where social distancing is not possible. On 1 July, face coverings began as a requirement statewide for all indoor public spaces.

In addition, indoor social get-togethers are limited to a maximum of 10 people.

The state of Oregon has reported 12,438 cases of COVID-19 and 237 deaths caused by the disease, according to the state health agency.

The United States has reported more than 3.3 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 135,000 deaths caused by the disease as of Monday evening, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Brazil has increased by 20,286 in the past 24 hours, taking the cumulative total to over 1.8 million, the country’s Health Ministry said.

There are now 1,884,967 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil. In the past 24 hours, 733 new deaths from COVID-19 were confirmed, taking the total coronavirus death toll to 72,833.

Over 1.1 million people have recovered from COVID-19 in Brazil since the start of the epidemic in the country, according to the health ministry.

Brazil has the second-highest coronavirus death toll, it is surpassed only by the United States, which has registered over 135,000 COVID-19 fatalities, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. Brazil and the United States are also the top two countries in terms of the total number of registered coronavirus cases (the United States has the highest total of over 3.3 million COVID-19 cases).

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The worldwide number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has surpassed 13 million, Johns Hopkins University dashboard shows.

The exact number of the coronavirus cases stood at 13,006,764 as of 21:15 GMT on Monday. A total of 570,776 people have died of the disease, the university added.

As many as 7,163,038 COVID-19 patients have recovered worldwide.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. The biggest number of cases so far have been registered in the United States, Brazil and India.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The Bank of America Chicago Marathon in the US state of Illinois has been canceled due to concerns about the possibility the novel coronavirus may spread to participants and visitors, event organizers said in a press release.

"On Monday, July 13, event organizers and the City of Chicago announced the decision to cancel the 2020 Bank of America Chicago Marathon and all race weekend activities in response to the ongoing public health concerns brought on by the coronavirus pandemic," the release said on Monday.

Illinois has reported 154,799 novel coronavirus cases and 7,193 virus-related deaths caused, according to the latest data from the state's Department of Public Health.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States may start producing potential COVID-19 vaccines as early as in August, CNBC reported.

The TV channel quoted on Monday a senior administration official as saying that health officials and drugmakers expect to launch the production by the end of the season, likely before trials of vaccine candidates are completed.

The US is probably four to six weeks away and will be actively manufacturing by the end of the summer, the report said.

The US administration launched in May Operation Warp Speed, a joint project of Health and Defense departments that aims to deliver 300 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by January 2021.

LONDON (Sputnik) - Face covering will become mandatory in shops across England starting from 24 July, a Downing Street spokesman said.

On 15 June, the UK government made wearing face masks on public transport mandatory. Throughout last week, conflicting statements were made by several cabinet officials on whether masks would also be made mandatory in other confined public spaces, such as shops.

"There is growing evidence that wearing a face covering in an enclosed space helps protect individuals and those around them from coronavirus. The prime minister has been clear that people should be wearing face coverings in shops and we will make this mandatory from July 24," the spokesman told reporters.

The measures will be enforced by the police on the territory of England, with anyone ignoring them at risk of a fine of up to 100 pounds ($125).

Further details will be announced by Health Secretary Matt Hancock on Tuesday.

During the first few months of the outbreak in the United Kingdom, various officials, Prime Minister Boris Johnson included, claimed that face masks were of low usefulness in protecting people from contracting the coronavirus in public.

To date, UK health authorities reported over 290,00 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases, including almost 45,000 related deaths.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Air Force said in a press release on Monday that it reported 4,073 novel coronavirus cases among active duty service members, dependents, civilian employees and contractors - a nearly three-fold increase from the 1,400 infections nearly a month earlier.

The release offered no explanation for the surge in cases and consisted of charts with cumulative data compiled each Sunday beginning with 15 June.

The latest data as of 6:00 p.m. Sunday showed 2,599 active duty airmen, 583 civilian, 642 dependents and 249 contractors infected for a total of 4,073, with 53 hospitalizations, 1,121 recoveries and seven deaths, according to the release.

Data on 15 June showed 1,400 infections by 700 airmen, 257 civilians, 308 dependents and 135 contractors totaling 1,400 cases. Of those, 32 people were hospitalized at the time, 636 having recovered and four have died, the release said.

Some medical experts have said the number of infections should be viewed relative to the number of coronavirus-related deaths and the latter number in the United States has decreased tenfold.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Michael Ryan, the executive director of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) health emergencies programme, said on Monday that high community transmission of COVID-19 means children will become involved in spreading the disease.

"When community transmission exists and when community transmission is intense, children will be exposed to this virus and children will be part of the transmission cycle," Ryan told a briefing while discussing reopening of schools.

The official added that such a decision has to be made by taking into account transmission in any given country and understanding risks in specific settings.

"There is quite a lot we still need to understand about transmission in children," Maria Van Kerkhove, the head of the WHO emerging diseases unit, said, adding that there were reports about outbreaks, mostly among older schoolchildren, in some countries that have already started reopen schools.

In order to halt the spread of COVID-19, many countries closed educational and child-care facilities to prevent them from turning into the virus' spreading grounds. As the countries began lifting their coronavirus measures, some opted for gradual reopening of schools as well.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - New York will fine travellers from quarantined states $2,000 if they fail to provide contact information to local authorities, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday.

"We have done a quarantine for the highest risk infection states. We know there’ve been instances of non-compliance," Cuomo said at a presser. "We are going to have the Department of Health issue an emergency health order today that will mandate that out of state travelers from the states that are quarantined must provide a location form before they leave the airport."

Cuomo explained that the airlines will hand the forms out on the plane and the form will also be available on the web.

"You must give officials at the airport your form as to where you came from and where you are going before you leave the airport," he said. "It will be enforced in every airport in the state of New York... If you leave the airport without providing the information, you will receive a summons immediately with a $2,000 [fine]."

Moreover, Cuomo said, if a person leaves the airport without providing the information, that person can then be brought to a hearing and ordered to complete a mandatory quarantine.

Cuomo also said that on Sunday the state performed 51,687 tests, 557 of which were positive. The governor said that the number of hospitalizations on Sunday stayed at 792, while 10 people died from the coronavirus.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia cancels mandatory 14-day isolation for people arriving in the country and will now require proof of negative coronavirus test, the decree issued by the consumer health watchdog said Monday.

The new rules will be applied on Wednesday.

The test results must be presented either in English or in Russian and date from no more than three days before the arrival.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Majorities of US women (54 percent), Democrats (61 percent), Northeasterners (54 percent) and those with annual household incomes under $36,000 (51 percent) say they always use masks outside their homes, with Republicans the only subgroup that claims to rarely cover their faces in public, a new Gallup poll revealed on Monday.

"The one exception is Republicans, among whom a majority say they wear masks infrequently - either sometimes (18 percent), rarely (9 percent) or never (27 percent)", a press release explaining the poll said.

Gallup noted President Donald Trump’s reluctance to wear a mask in public but the release made no attempt to infer a link between the president's behaviour and resistance to face coverings by Republican voters.

Images of Trump with his face covered in public are so rare that the president made headlines over the weekend by wearing a mask when visiting injured US service members in a hospital.

When combining “always” and “frequent” mask wearers, the partisan gap on mask use widens to 94 percent for Democrats compared with 46 percent for Republicans, the release said.

When polling data is stratified by other categories such as education and age, Republicans remained the only sub-group in which an overall majority continues to resist wearing masks outside the home.

Republicans who object to wearing masks have said they base their choice on the understanding that surgical masks and cloth face coverings do not prevent the 1.25 micron sized coronavirus from passing through as well as the fact that government can not mandate residents to wear anything. 

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - For the first time in months, New York City saw a 24 hour period with no novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-related deaths, Mayor Bill de Blasio told a press conference on Monday.

"For the first time in months, we have a [day] in which no-one in this city died from the coronavirus. That is so striking", de Blasio said on Monday. "Twenty four hours where no one died. Let's have many more days than that."

However, infections are still rising among young people up to 29-year old, along with a slower increase among 30 to 39-year-olds, de Blasio cautioned.

"We see one trait that is worrisome. We see the infection [rate] rising among 20- to 29-year-olds. We see a problem and we need to address it ... It is very hard to take a victory lap because we know we have so much more ahead. This disease is far from beaten. No one can celebrate."

Also on Sunday, the rate of infection with novel coronavirus of those tested dropped to only two percent, de Blasio said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Italian government is weighing up proposals to extend the country’s COVID-19 state of emergency until 31 October, the ANSA news agency reports on Monday, citing sources close to the matter.

Sources told the agency that the government is “reflecting on the hypothesis” of prolonging the state of emergency until this date, and a proposal will be considered by the cabinet later this week.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte this past Friday said that the emergency measures will likely be extended beyond 31 July in order to keep the spread of the coronavirus disease under control.

The Italian Health Ministry confirmed 234 new positive tests for COVID-19 on Sunday, a slight increase from the 188 new cases reported the day before.

Italy, one of the first global epicentres of the outbreak, has confirmed more than 243,000 positive tests for the coronavirus disease. The country has the world’s fifth-highest COVID-19 death toll, as 34,954 people who have tested positive for the disease in the European country have died.

BEIJING (Sputnik) - Two experts of the World Health Organisation (WHO) have arrived in China to study the origin of COVID-19 and the Chinese side is in close contact with them, the country's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said on Monday.

"In accordance with the arrangement between the two sides, the Chinese government agreed that WHO would send its experts to Beijing to collaborate with Chinese scientists over the issue of detecting the source of COVID-19. The two WHO experts have now arrived in China", Hua said at a briefing.

According to the spokeswoman, China and the WHO believe that the origin of the virus is a scientific issue that requires international collaboration and scientific research.

"The WHO also believes that the origin of the virus is a long-term process that can affect many countries. The WHO can also organise similar inspection trips to other countries if necessary", Hua added.

The spokeswoman did not provide details regarding specific activities of the WHO experts in China.

The current coronavirus pandemic started in China in December of last year. Initial reports indicated that the start of the COVID-19 epidemic in China was linked to a market in the city of Wuhan in the Hubei Province.

On Friday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said two WHO experts were heading to collaborate with local scientists to study the transmission of coronavirus from animals to humans. The organisation has said that its scoping mission would set the ground for a larger international mission.

The WHO move comes amid severe criticism by the US and its allies of the organisation. US President Donald Trump, in particular, claims that China's influence in the WHO allowed the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan to morph into a global pandemic, when the disease should have been contained within China. Both Beijing and the UN health agency dismissed the claims.

The origin of the new coronavirus, which has infected nearly 13 million people worldwide and killed over 550,000, remains obscure. It has been linked to bats, civets and pangolins, with scientific studies suggesting it likely resulted from a combination of bat and pangolin coronaviruses.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) remains highly concerned about the global epidemiological situation despite the stable growth in the COVID-19 death toll, as 230,000 new positive tests for the disease were registered over the previous day, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

"Yesterday, 230,000 cases of COVID-19 were reported to WHO. Almost 80 percent of those cases were reported from just 10 countries, and 50 percent come from just two countries. Although the number of daily deaths remains relatively stable, there is a lot to be concerned about. All countries are at risk of the virus, as you know, but not all countries have been affected in the same way", the director-general said at a press briefing.

According to the WHO’s daily situation report, the increase to the global COVID-19 death toll on Sunday was 5,285, a decrease of one compared to Saturday’s rise. Despite a surge in new cases, particularly in countries such as the United States and Brazil, a corresponding spike in new deaths has yet to be observed, according to the WHO’s figures.

On Sunday, US Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir told the ABC News broadcaster that officials in Washington are expecting to see a surge in deaths over the next two to three weeks following several days that saw record numbers of new coronavirus disease cases in the United States.

The United States registered a single-day record of 66,627 positive tests on Saturday, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

The number of people diagnosed with COVID-19 has reached 13 million, spiking from 12 million on 8 July - meaning an increase of 1 million infections in just 5 days, Reuters reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that the government was deliberating on the widely-debated issue of whether to make face masks mandatory in shops and other confined public spaces and would deliver a statement in "the next few days".

"Yes, I think people should be wearing face coverings in shops, and in terms of how we do that and whether we make it mandatory, we will be looking at the guidance and we will be saying a little bit more in the next few days", Johnson said at a press stakeout during a visit to the London Ambulance Service headquarters.

Specifying the upcoming announcement, Johnson said the government would be looking at "exactly how and with what tools of enforcement we think we want to make progress".

According to the UK prime minister, as he acknowledged that the coronavirus pandemic has begun retreating, "face masks are an extra insurance that we all can use to stop it from coming back, stop it from getting out of control again".

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Immunity to COVID-19 may be lost or significantly weakened several months after recovery and there is a risk for people to become re-infected with the disease on a seasonal basis, The Guardian reported, citing a study by King's College London.

According to the media outlet, scientists analysed the immune response of more than 90 patients and healthcare workers and discovered that antibodies have the maximum capacity to destroy the virus three weeks after the onset of symptoms, but afterward, their effectiveness swiftly declines.

The study revealed that 60 percent of patients had a powerful antibody response to the virus during the peak of their battle against the disease and only 17 percent of them retained the same level of antibody response three months later. Antibody levels fell by as much as 23 times over this period, while some patients lose antibodies completely.

"People are producing a reasonable antibody response to the virus, but it’s waning over a short period of time and depending on how high your peak is, that determines how long the antibodies are staying around", Dr Katie Doores, an author of the study, said, as quoted by the media outlet.

According to the publication, the findings of the study are important for the development of a COVID-19 vaccine and reaching collective immunity. Scientists believe that vaccines may not protect people for a long period of time if antibodies are the main force to confront the virus.

The study also revealed that antibodies were stronger and their effect was longer in the most severe cases of COVID-19.

Catalan leader Quim Torra said he would approve a new decree, calling on people to self-isolate, as a previous decision was barred by a judge.

"We cannot understand that there are bureaucratic obstacles in decisions that are taken for the health and life of citizens", Torra told a news conference. "It's a luxury to lose time with legal resolutions. We cannot allow this".

Spain lifted quarantine restrictions last month, however, the pandemic regulations were re-imposed in several areas after a new outbreak in the Catalan city of Lleida and other regions.

According to the agency, Latin American accounts for 144,758 deaths (around half of the fatalities are confirmed in Brazil) surpassing the US and Canadian total of 144,023. The region is now only behind Europe with 202,505 deaths.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) -Russia has registered 6,537 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours (6,615 yesterday), taking the cumulative total to 733,699, the country's coronavirus response centre said on Monday.

"Over the past 24 hours, Russia has confirmed 6,537 COVID-19 cases in 84 regions, of which 1,674 (25.6 percent) have been detected with people showing no clinical symptoms", the response centre said, adding that the total count has grown to 733,699 cases in 85 regions, with the daily increase amounting to 0.9 percent.

Moscow registered 672 cases, which is more than any other region in Russia, followed by St. Petersburg with 291 new cases and the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region with 270 cases (compared to 679, 293, and 267 yesterday).

As many as 104 COVID-19 patients died in Russia over the past 24 hours, which is a significant decrease from the 130 fatalities recorded on Sunday. The total death toll has reached 11,439.

MOSCOW, July 13 (Sputnik) - A total of 1,000 individuals from the Australian Defence Force will be deployed to the country's southeastern state of Victoria to fight a new COVID-19 outbreak in the area, Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Monday.

The state of Victoria is dealing with the heaviest burden, as it is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases linked to international arrivals quarantining in hotels in Melbourne. Last week, the state authorities announced the reintroduction of a lockdown for six weeks. In particular, Melbourne residents will only be able to leave their homes to buy food and necessities, get help, or look after others. People will also be allowed to go outside for sporting activities, study, or work if it is not possible to do it remotely.

"The Commonwealth will provide the Victorian Govt w/ an additional 1000 ADF personnel to assist with the COVID-19 outbreak. They will assist as required by the Vic Govt in areas such as road checkpoints, isolation, testing or patient follow-up. We thank them for their support", Hunt tweeted.

BEIJING (Sputnik) - China has registered six asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the National Health Commission said on Sunday, adding that eight new coronavirus cases were recorded in the country.

According to the commission, all new cases have been imported from abroad.

The country’s total number of confirmed coronavirus cases now stands at 83,602, the death toll is 4,634. The total number of recovered patients in China stands at 78,648

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Germany has confirmed 159 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, with the total count reaching 198,963, the Robert Koch Institute said on Monday.

The death toll has grown by one to 9,064 people within the same period of time. Some 185,100 people have recovered since the start of the outbreak.

A day earlier, the country confirmed 248 new cases and six fatalities, while on Saturday, 378 new cases of the disease were reported.

Bavaria accounts for most of Germany's COVID-19 cases (49,273), followed by North Rhine-Westphalia (44,974) and Baden-Wurttemberg (36,041). The German capital of Berlin has so far recorded 8,638 cases.

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) - The Mexican Health Ministry on Monday announced that the country's death toll from COVID-19 has surpassed 35,000, making Mexico the world's number four in terms of COVID-related deaths.

According to the ministry, the exact number of deaths in Mexico has reached 35,006, while the overall number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country amounts to 299,750. Almost 75,000 people showing relevant symptoms are awaiting test results, while a total of 184,764 have fully recovered from the disease since the start of the outbreak.