.png)
-
The US has again recorded more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, with California overtaking New York as the US state with the most confirmed cases.
-
Papua New Guinea has put out a call for emergency assistance to the WHO, fearful it might be facing widespread community transmission of the disease.
- More than 15 million people around the world have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, and more than 622,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, Mexico and Italy have suffered the most deaths.
Here are the updates:
Thursday, July 23
03:50 GMT – Papua New Guinea calls for WHO help over outbreak
Papua New Guinea has called on the WHO for help citing a “high likelihood of expanded community transmission”.
PNG is one of the poorest countries in the Pacific and has limited medical resources. It currently has 30 cases of COVID-19, compared with 11 on Sunday. Most of those affected are medical workers.
The country has asked the WHO to deploy Emergency Medical Teams for an initial period of one month.
Following an increase of cases in Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬 there is an urgent need for clinical teams (EMTs) to support the country to prepare for and manage a surge in COVID-19 cases. Read the full request for assistance here: https://t.co/wThzLdAmNh #EMTeams #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/sFt16sP6wJ
— Chantal Claravall (@ClaravallC) July 22, 2020
National pandemic response controller David Manning said the WHO was in the process of mobilising international medical teams to deploy to the country.
“We are also discussing with the PNG Defence Force to assist… the Health Department,” he said in a statement. “We have always said we don’t have adequate facilities.”
Manning said testing was limited beyond the capital of Port Moresby.
03:30 GMT – China reports 22 new cases of coronavirus – most in Xinjiang
China’s National Health Commission has reported 22 new cases of coronavirus on the mainland, most of them in the far western region of Xinjiang where mass testing is underway.
Chinese mainland reported 22 new confirmed #COVID19 cases (18 in Xinjiang), and 31 new #asymptomatic COVID-19 patients pic.twitter.com/QkmHZPY2Rg
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) July 23, 2020
Urumqi, capital of NW China’s #Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, is carrying out free nucleic acid tests for all residents and people who are visiting the city, in a bid to screen for novel #coronavirus infections and reduce the risk of the epidemic spread. #Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/d55Dvf3GAy
— China Daily (@ChinaDaily) July 23, 2020
03:00 GMT – China offers $1 billion loan for Latin America vaccine access
China will offer a $1 billion loan to make any coronavirus vaccine it develops available to countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Mexico’s foreign ministry says China made the promise in a virtual meeting.
02:30 GMT – California overtakes New York in coronavirus cases
California has overtaken New York to record the highest number of coronavirus cases of any US state.
Health officials say the state’s total caseload now stands at 413,576 – about 4,700 cases more than in New York.
California’s death toll remains much lower, however.
It has recorded 7,870 deaths since the start of the pandemic, compared with 25,068 in New York.
01:30 GMT – More records tumble in South America
Brazil and Argentina have both registered new daily records for confirmed coronavirus cases.
Brazil confirmed 67,860 cases on Wednesday, while Argentina recorded 5,782 cases. Both countries also reported more deaths from the disease, while Peru added 3,688 previously uncounted people to its death toll lifting the total to 17,455.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has still not shaken the virus, which he once referred to as nothing more than a “little flu”.
A test on Wednesday – his third – showed he still had COVID-19.
|
New COVID-19 vaccine trials underway in Brazil |
00:15 GMT – South Korea’s economy in recession as exports slump
South Korea has entered recession after exports recorded their steepest decline since 1963.
The economy shrank by 3.3 percent in the three months ended June, compared with the previous quarter.
Exports account for 40 percent of South Korea’s economy, and plunged 16.6 percent.
Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki struck an optimistic note, however. He says government spending, cash handouts and a slowing pandemic could help growth recover.
“It’s possible for us to see a China-style rebound in the third quarter as the pandemic slows and activity in overseas production, schools and hospitals resume,” Hong said.
00:00 GMT – Final bow? UK warns of theatre closures after lockdown
A United Kingdom parliamentary committee on arts and culture says the coronavirus lockdown has pushed British theatre to the brink of collapse.
The committee estimates that more than 15,000 theatrical performances were cancelled in the first 12 weeks of the lockdown that began on March 23, and put total losses at 603 million pounds.
“We are witnessing the biggest threat to our cultural landscape in a generation,” the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said.
Britain has about 1,100 theatres from London’s West End to smaller towns and cities around the country.
—
Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur.
Read all the updates from yesterday (July 22) here.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
