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Lazio region imposes curfew – as it happened

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Wed 21 Oct 2020 18.33 EDTFirst published on Tue 20 Oct 2020 18.33 EDT
A volunteer wearing a protective face mask hands out free food rations for the poor people in Barcelona.
A volunteer wearing a protective face mask hands out free food rations for the poor people in Barcelona. Photograph: Matthias Oesterle/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock
A volunteer wearing a protective face mask hands out free food rations for the poor people in Barcelona. Photograph: Matthias Oesterle/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock

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Jordan has reported 2,648 new Covid-19 cases, its highest daily number since the start of the pandemic, as the country faces a major outbreak with a tripling of deaths in just the last two weeks.

The surge in the last month has put Jordan’s infection numbers above those of most of its Middle East neighbours and reverses months of success in containing the outbreak.

It also accompanies an alarming jump in daily deaths that now average around 30.

Prime minister Bisher al-Khasawneh said although the country had entered a “difficult phase” after widespread community transmission, it would not reimpose a national lockdown.

“Long closures will only lead to the decimation of whole economic sectors,” Khasawneh said, echoing concerns that a tight lockdown that paralysed daily life would cripple the already battered aid dependent economy.

Since the start of the pandemic, the country of about 10 million people has recorded 43,620 infections and 443 deaths, authorities said.

Khasawneh said the government had opted for a one-day lockdown on Friday for the rest of the year but a night curfew would be extended by another two hours to begin at 11pm. It also decided to close nurseries as of Saturday.

Schools, academies and universities would remain shut while restaurants and cafes would open with tougher health safeguards. A strict ban on social gatherings of more than 20 people from weddings to funerals would stay.

Health minister Nizar Obeidat said the government was bracing for a possible jump to over 3,000 cases a day and said authorities would do everything to prevent a collapse in the healthcare system.

Jordan has 1,300 hospital beds with 700 intensive care beds and 600 respiratory units with capacity to raise these numbers, Obeidat said, adding there were now 1,078 patients being treated in hospitals.

Trump says he doesn't see agreement with Democrats on stimulus

President Donald Trump has said he does not see any way house speaker Nancy Pelosi and senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer “will be willing to do what is right for our great American workers, or our wonderful USA itself, on stimulus.”

Just don’t see any way Nancy Pelosi and Cryin’ Chuck Schumer will be willing to do what is right for our great American workers, or our wonderful USA itself, on Stimulus. Their primary focus is BAILING OUT poorly run (and high crime) Democrat cities and states....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 21, 2020
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Four US states reported a record one-day increase in Covid-19 deaths on Wednesday including Wisconsin, a hotly contested state in the 3 November election, as infections keep rising across the Midwest and beyond.

Coronavirus deaths hit daily records in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin, according to a Reuters analysis. Wisconsin also reported a record daily increase in new cases together with Illinois and Ohio, the analysis showed.

There were 66 deaths in Illinois, the state’s highest single-day increase since mid-June, as governor JB Pritzker imposed fresh restrictions in some counties this week.

On Wednesday, Wisconsin governor Tony Evers said 48 people had died from the virus as he announced that a week-old field hospital in the Milwaukee suburbs has admitted its first patient.

“Folks, please stay home,” Evers said in a statement. “Help us protect our communities from this highly contagious virus and avoid further strain on our hospitals.”

Aerial view of people waiting in their vehicles for Covid-19 tests at a drive-thru testing site in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photograph: Bing Guan/Reuters

Nationally, cases have been trending higher for five weeks, rising to 60,000 on average over the past seven days from a recent low of 35,000 a day in mid-September.

The rise partly reflects increased testing in many states, which has provided a more accurate picture of the spread of the virus.

The US has averaged 734 daily coronavirus deaths over the past seven days, still well below the 2,333 average at the height of the pandemic in April.

The latest outbreak on a per capita-basis is most severe in the Midwest, where daily case counts hit a record on Monday with over 27,000 new infections reported.

Midwest hospitalisations climbed to 10,830 on Tuesday, hitting a record high for a fifth day in a row and raising fears that medical centres could become overwhelmed like in the early months of the pandemic in the US northeast.

The US is likely to have enough safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines available to inoculate the most vulnerable Americans by the end of 2020, health and human services secretary Alex Azar said.

The US government is “cautiously optimistic” that one or two vaccines, likely from Pfizer or Moderna, will be available by the end of the year and can begin to be distributed to Americans, officials said during a news conference.

Azar said he expects all seniors, healthcare workers, and first responders will be able to receive a vaccine as soon as January, with the rest of the American public able to get a vaccine by April.

Companies participating in the US government’s effort to develop a vaccine for Covid-19, dubbed Operation Warp Speed, have begun developing manufacturing capabilities even before any vaccinations have been authorised by regulators.

In an open letter published last week, Pfizer said it is unlikely to have enough data to submit for a US regulatory authorisation until late November, after the US presidential election.

The coronavirus outbreak has been worsening in recent weeks as cold weather pushes Americans indoors, raising the chance of contracting the virus. Some 38 US states and two territories have reported rising case counts.

A South Yorkshire council leader in England has described the negotiations with government over Tier 3 (very high) restrictions as a “charade”.

Sheffield City Council leader Julie Dore said it was clear Downing Street officials and ministers were going through the motions for 10 days just to try and prove they were listening.

Dore was speaking after Sheffield City Region mayor Dan Jarvis, who led the discussions, admitted he could not have secured any more cash, saying he “moved heaven and earth to secure the maximum amount of resource that we could”.

Dore told the PA news agency:

I can assure you that Dan has been fighting vociferously for the people of Sheffield and South Yorkshire, just like I have been, because we genuinely thought we were in proper discussions and negotiations.

I think it’s outrageous. I entered into it in good faith and, basically, it was just a charade that we went through.

Asked about comments from her counterpart in Rotherham, Chris Reed, that the talks had just been “delaying tactics”, Dore said:

It was more than just delaying tactics. I think it was also them trying to show clearly something that they are not. They don’t care about the North of England.

I feel like I’ve wasted 10 days when it could have been done in 24 hours right at the start - ‘you’re going into Tier 3 and this is the package you’re going to get’.

I never thought that any government of any persuasion would stoop so low to start bartering with local region and local leaders on what is required to save lives. It’s reprehensible.

Linda Geddes

Women aged 50-60 are at greatest risk of developing “long Covid”, analysis suggests.

Older age and experiencing five or more symptoms within the first week of illness were also associated with a heightened risk of lasting health problems.

The study, led by Dr Claire Steves and Prof Tim Spector at King’s College London, analysed data from 4,182 COVID Symptom Study app users who had been consistently logging their health and had tested positive for the virus.

In general, women were twice as likely to suffer from Covid symptoms that lasted longer than a month, compared with men – but only until around the age of 60, when their risk level became more similar.

Increasing age was also associated with a heightened risk of long Covid, with about 22% of people aged over 70 suffering for four weeks or more, compared with 10% of people aged between 18 and 49.

For women in the 50-60 age bracket, these two risk factors appeared to combine: They were eight times more likely to experience lasting symptoms of Covid-19 compared with 18- to 30-year-olds. However, the greatest difference between men and women was seen among those aged between 40 and 50, where women’s risk of developing long Covid was double that of men’s.

Coventry will face harsher coronavirus restrictions as it is moved into Tier 2 “high alert” level from Friday.

Households will be banned from mixing indoors in the Midlands city, after a rise in positive cases in recent weeks.

Government data analysed by the PA news agency suggests the infection rate in the city had reached 180.1 per 100,000 residents by Wednesday, up from 160.4 a week earlier.

The council said that around 40% of positive cases are being found in the 18-21 age group.

The local director of public health, Liz Gaulton, called for a “determined effort by the whole city; everyone who lives and works here” to bring the rate down.

The West Midlands mayor said it was “clear the city needs to move to stricter restrictions” but said the new rules will present a “serious economic challenge”.

Andy Street tweeted:

Currently, there’s no extra financial support available for our hospitality sector in Tier Two which cannot possibly be right.

I will continue to press Govt on this & I’m confident we will get a breakthrough soon.

1/2 I'm disappointed to see Coventry joining the majority of the WM in Tier 2, but with cases rising over the last few weeks it is clear the city needs to move to stricter restrictions. However as I've said before, Tier 2 restrictions do present a serious economic challenge.

— Andy Street (@andy4wm) October 21, 2020

The council leader also called for more help from central government, asking them to “mend the broken test, track and trace system so it is the world-class service we were promised”.

Councillor George Duggins added: “I believe, without this failure, these additional restrictions may not have been necessary.”

Several areas in the West Midlands have been under Tier 2 restrictions since the system was announced last week, including Birmingham, Sandwell, Solihull, Wolverhampton and Walsall.

There are a number of differences between the White House and Democrats in Congress on coronavirus relief but president Donald Trump is “willing to lean into” working toward an agreement, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said.

“There continues to be a number of differences but, as I mentioned earlier, we’ve entered a new phase where we’re actually looking at some of the technical language,” Meadows said on Fox News channel.

He later told reporters he was optimistic a deal could be reached and that the administration would stay engaged for the next couple of days.

California theme park executives said legal action was among the options they were exploring to hasten the reopening of the industry in the state.

“I think that all options are open at this point. We are going to continue to explore our options,” Erin Guerrero, the executive director of the Californian Attractions and Parks Associations told a news conference when asked whether legal action was being considered.

California health secretary Mark Ghaly said on Tuesday that theme parks with a capacity of more than 15,000 visitors must wait to resume business until a county’s Covid-19 risk level drops to the lowest tier of “minimal” spread.

Disneyland said the guidelines would keep the park “shuttered for the foreseeable future.”

“The concept of trying to come up with a collaborative solution is the end goal for all of us,” Ken Potrock, president of the Disneyland resort, said at Wednesday’s news conference.

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The UK finance minister will tell MPs tomorrow that prospects for the economy are getting bleaker as more and more of the country faces tougher restrictions to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rishi Sunak is expected to announce his fourth package of support for business in as many months amid mounting pressure on the government to help hard-hit companies in lockdown-affected regions.

He has been looking at a number of options for providing further help after becoming increasingly downbeat about the prospects for jobs in the months ahead.

Ministers are particularly concerned about the hospitality industry in London, which accounts for almost a quarter of the UK economy and is currently in tier 2, but will not want to be seen as favouring the capital at a time when north-south feelings in England are running high.

Calls for Sunak to bolster his support have intensified, despite official figures showing that the UK borrowed more in the first six months of the current financial year than it did in the worst year of the banking crisis of the late 2000s.

Summary

  • Italy’s Lazio region, including the capital Rome, is set to introduce a curfew on Friday from midnight to 5am to try to curb its surging Covid-19 infections, a regional government source told Reuters. The source said the region will also introduce some restrictions on schools and universities. The northern region of Lombardy, around Milan, which was hit hardest in the first wave and recorded its highest daily tally on Wednesday since the beginning of the pandemic, announced a similar curfew from Thursday, from 11pm to 5am, and Campania in the south is seeking to follow suit on Friday.
  • It comes as Italy registered a record of 15,199 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, its highest daily increase in coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
  • France recorded more than 25,000 new infections for the sixth time in 12 days, with the government likely to announce a geographical extension of the curfews currently in place in Paris and eight other major cities. Several more regions are to enter red-alert status, which means that they will have to impose curfews, the government said on Wednesday. It came as hospitals in several cities including Paris moved into emergency mode to cope with the influx of patients with the virus.
  • Greek authorities announced a regional lockdown of the northern region of Kastoria, after declaring the region an elevated risk, the highest of a four-tier risk assessment. Restrictions will be imposed from 23 October. It comes as the country reported 865 new cases of Covid-19, a new high since the outbreak began in late February.
  • Spain became the first western European country to surpass a million coronavirus cases. The unwelcome milestone comes as the government considers a curfew and as political bickering threaten to jeopardise efforts to control the second wave of the virus.
  • The UK reported a daily record of 26,688 coronavirus cases, bringing the tally of lab-confirmed infections to 789,229.
  • Russia is not planning to impose any blanket restrictions to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, the president Vladimir Putin said, even as the country reported a record new daily death toll from the respiratory disease. Russia needs keep on carrying out tests for Covid-19, observe safety measures and start vaccinations, Putin said.
  • The German health minister Jens Spahn tested positive for the coronavirus, the health ministry said. He took part in a cabinet meeting earlier in the day but other ministers do not need to go into quarantine, a government spokesman said.
  • Poland will announce fresh restrictions on Thursday after coronavirus infections doubled in less than three weeks, possibly including moving some primary school students to distance learning. On Wednesday, it reported a daily record of 10,040 new cases, taking its tally past 200,000.
  • The Netherlands hit a new record for daily coronavirus cases, with more than 8,500 infections in the 24 hours, nearly a week after the government imposed “partial lockdown” measures including the closure of bars and restaurants.
  • Scotland will introduce a five-tier system of coronavirus restrictions on Friday that will partly mirror England’s three-tier traffic light system of controls, as infections and fatalities climbed sharply to levels not seen since May.
  • Turkey is considering reimposing some measures to stem rising coronavirus cases, such as stay-home orders for younger and older people or even weekend lockdowns, but will avoid hurting the economic recovery.
  • Iran reported its highest daily number of cases since February, recording 5,616 new coronavirus cases for the previous 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 545,286 in the Middle East’s hardest-hit country. Authorities have urged people to avoid unnecessary trips and stay home, warning that hospitals in Tehran and some other major cities are overflowing with patients with coronavirus.
  • The Czech Republic shut most shops and services and sought to limit all movement to essential trips such as for work and medical visits to curb Europe’s fastest growth in new coronavirus infections. The country recorded a record daily rise of 11,984 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, amid a surge in recent weeks, and the health minister said the health system would soon reach the limits of its capacity and that hospitals would run short of beds in November without immediate action.
  • People who host house parties in Ireland can be fined up to €1,000 or jailed for up to one month to ensure compliance with a new Covid-19 lockdown. The government is fast-tracking legislation to give police new powers to levy on the spot fines for breaches of the new restrictions, which come into effect on Thursday.
  • Slovenia and Croatia both reported record daily highs in new infections. This week Slovenia introduced a curfew from 9pm to 6am and a 30-day state of emergency to cope with the coronavirus, while Croatia isn’t yet considering such measures.

That’s all from me today. Thank you all for reading along today and to everybody who got in touch to share tips. I’ll now be handing over to my colleague Jessica Murray. Take care.

The University of Oxford’s Brazilian trial of its vaccine candidate will continue after the death of a volunteer, the university said on Wednesday, adding an independent review had revealed no safety concerns.

“Following careful assessment of this case in Brazil, there have been no concerns about safety of the clinical trial and the independent review in addition to the Brazilian regulator have recommended that the trial should continue,” a spokesman for the university said in a statement.

The deceased trial volunteer did not receive the vaccine, Bloomberg is reporting, citing a person familiar with the matter. The vaccine has been licensed to AstraZeneca.

Italy's Lazio region, including Rome, to impose nightly curfew, reports say

Italy’s Lazio region, including the capital Rome, is set to introduce a curfew from midnight to 5am to try to curb its surging Covid-19 infections, a regional government source told Reuters on Wednesday.

The new rules will be effective from Friday, the source said, adding the region will also introduce some restrictions on schools and universities.

The northern region of Lombardy, around Milan, announced a similar curfew on Monday, starting at 11pm.

On Wednesday, Italy reported 15,199 new coronavirus infections, its highest ever daily figure, of which 1,219 were recorded in Lazio.

French health authorities reported 26,676 new Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, the sixth time in 12 days the daily tally stayed above the 25,000 threshold.

The number of people in France who have died from Covid-19 was up by 163, at 34,048, and the cumulative number of cases now totals 957,421.

The resurgence of the pandemic is such that the government will likely announce a geographical extension of a curfew, at present imposed on Paris and eight other major cities from 9pm to 6am.

Greece has reported 865 new cases of Covid-19, a new high since an outbreak in late February, and authorities announced a regional lockdown of a northern district.

Authorities declared the northern region of Kastoria on an elevated risk, the highest of a 4-tier risk assessment. Restrictions would be imposed from 23 October, the deputy civil protection minister Nikos Hardalias said.

“The situation is critical and strict adherence to measures is required under current circumstances,” he told a news briefing.

Greece has recorded significantly lower numbers of Covid-19 which has gripped other countries in Europe, though cases have started to rise since early October.

A further six deaths were reported on Wednesday, bringing the total number to 534.

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