.png)
- The WHO says younger people – those in their 20s, 30s and 40s – are the ones now driving the coronavirus pandemic and many don’t know they have the virus.
- Hopes are growing in Australia that a second wave outbreak in Victoria may finally be easing after the state reported the lowest number of daily cases in a month.
- New Zealand has ruled out frozen food and freight as the origin of the coronavirus outbreak that pushed Auckland back into lockdown.
- The number of people diagnosed with COVID-19 around the world now exceeds 21.8 million, and more than 773,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 13.8 million people have recovered from the disease.
Here are the latest updates.
Tuesday, August 18
05:15 GMT – Hongkong Post to test frontline workers
Hongkong Post says it will arrange COVID-19 testing for a total of around 3,800 staff responsible for mail delivery, outdoor duties and counter service, The tests are scheduled for August 20 and 21 and Hongkong Post expects the process will be completed within two days of taking a specimen.
04:55 GMT – China’s Sinopharm promises vaccine will be affordable
China’s state media is reporting that a potential vaccine being developed by a unit of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), will cost no more than 1,000 yuan ($144.27) for two shots.
Sinopharm says its vaccine – currently in late stage human trials in the United Arab Emirates – could be ready for public use by the end of this year.
“It will not be priced very high,” Sinopharm chairman Liu Jingzhen was quoted as saying by the Guangming Daily.
More than 200 vaccines are currently in development with more than 20 in human trials.
04:00 GMT – WHO says younger people increasingly driving pandemic
The World Health Organization’s regional director for the Western Pacific says younger people – those in their 20s, 30s and 40s – are increasingly driving the pandemic.
Takeshi Kasai told a virtual briefing that many were unaware they had the disease.
“This increases the risk of spillovers to the more vulnerable: the elderly, the sick people in long-term care, people who live in densely populated areas and underserved areas,” he said.
Low risk isn’t no risk. Follow your national health advisory to protect yourself and others from #COVID19
Learn more 👉 https://t.co/X5UBBwGY1q#StaySafe pic.twitter.com/5ka0geiz2n
— World Health Organization Western Pacific (@WHOWPRO) August 17, 2020
03:40 GMT – Mutation of virus could be a “good thing”
A prominent expert in infectious diseases says the mutation of the coronavirus into a more infectious strain could be a “good thing” because it appears to be less deadly.
Paul Tambyah, a senior consultant at the National University of Singapore and president-elect of the International Society of Infectious Diseases, says the D614G strain increasingly found in Europe – and this week reported in Malaysia – told Reuters viruses tended to become less deadly as they mutated.
“It is in the virus’ interest to infect more people but not to kill them because a virus depends on the host,” he told the news agency. The proliferation of the mutation had coincided with a drop in death rates, he noted.
You can read more on that story here.
03:20 GMT – Shenzhen steps up procedures to check frozen goods
While New Zealand may have ruled out frozen food imports as the source of its latest outbreak of coronavirus, Chinese state media reports the southern city of Shenzhen is setting up a warehouse specifically to handle such imports.
All imported frozen foods will have to go through the facility, where they will be disinfected, before they can be processed, stored or sold in Shenzhen. Samples will also be taken for nucleic acid testing.
Shenzhen will set up a warehouse for the supervision of #ImportedFrozenFoods starting from Tue as concerns rise over the risk of cold-chain supplies carrying #COVID19. A worker said it will take 5-8 hours for containers to finish the process. https://t.co/2MzrgWvXyj pic.twitter.com/hJ9naKbvvb
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) August 18, 2020
02:50 GMT – New Zealand rules out link to frozen food and freight in recent outbreak
New Zealand has ruled out frozen food and freight as the cause of the recent coronavirus outbreak in Auckland.
Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told the media that investigations showed the virus did not come through chilled foods or materials arriving from overseas at a cold storage facility where one of the people diagnosed with the virus worked.
Auckland is in lockdown until August 26 and investigations into the origin of the outbreak are continuing.
02:20 GMT – Coronavirus on agenda as Democrats open convention in US
The Democrats in the US have begun the convention that will officially nominate Joe Biden as the party’s candidate in November’s presidential elections.
Actress Eva Longoria opened the event – held virtually because of COVID-19 – by saying that the pandemic had “affected us all”.
Later, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo addressed the convention saying that the administration of incumbent President Donald Trump was “dysfunctional and incompetent” and had failed to tackle the coronavirus.
‘Our current federal government is dysfunctional and incompetent. It couldn’t fight off the virus. In fact, it didn’t even see it coming,’ says @NYGovCuomo. Live #DemConvention updates: https://t.co/8mtXh0wSov pic.twitter.com/Eb9Ig45ReV
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 18, 2020
You can follow our live updates on the convention here.
02:00 GMT – Rio mayor scraps beach app reservation plan
Rio de Janeiro’s mayor has scrapped plans to launch an app for people to reserve their space on the beach after public ridicule.
Marcelo Crivella was inundated with criticism and a flood of memes on social media after announcing the proposal last week.
The mayor’s office now says the app will be scrapped and sitting on the beach will remain banned.
People have been allowed to swim in the ocean since the end of last month.
01:30 GMT – New Zealand reports 13 new cases
New Zealand’s reported 13 new cases of coronavirus over the past 24 hours.
12 of the cases are linked to an existing cluster that forced the lockdown of Auckland – the country’s biggest city.
00:30 GMT – Protests in Argentina against extension of coronavirus restrictions
Thousands of people have taken to the streets in cities across Argentina to show their opposition to President Alberto Fernandez and his plans to extend coronavirus restrictions in the region around Buenos Aires.
Demonstrators gathered in the centre of the city shouting “freedom, freedom”, waving flags and chanting anti-government slogans.
Argentina has recorded nearly 300,000 cases of the disease and 5,750 deaths. About 90 percent of the cases have been in Buenos Aires where the coronavirus curbs have been extended until August 30.
00:10 GMT – Hopes rise in Victoria that outbreak easing after lowest cases in a month
The Australian state of Victoria has reported its lowest number of coronavirus cases in a month, raising hopes that the second wave outbreak in the state is slowing.
Victoria reported 222 cases of the disease in the last 24 hours.
It also reported a further 17 deaths.
A man walks past a billboard in Melbourne reminding people that face masks are compulsory [William West/AFP]
00:00 GMT – Museum of Modern Art in New York to reopen on August 27
New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will reopen – with fewer visitors allowed, timed ticketing and mandatory face masks – on August 27.
MoMA has been closed for five months because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is due to open on August 29, while the Whitney Museum of American Art will reopen on September 3.
—-
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 (August 17) here.
