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13,300 new infections in Spain – as it happened

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 Updated 
Thu 15 Oct 2020 18.39 EDTFirst published on Wed 14 Oct 2020 19.05 EDT
Lille
A health worker wearing a protective suit and face mask administers a nasal swab to a patient in a temporary testing site in Lille, France. Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters
A health worker wearing a protective suit and face mask administers a nasal swab to a patient in a temporary testing site in Lille, France. Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters

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Key events

Summary

  • The UK government’s flagship policy for tackling the coronavirus in England descended into chaos after mayors and MPs from the north-west of the country emphatically rejected being moved into the highest lockdown level and accused ministers of treating the region with contempt.
  • Spain’s cumulative tally of coronavirus infections rose by over 13,300 to 921,374 in a slight acceleration from the previous few days, as Catalonia prepared to shut down bars and restaurants in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.
  • France’s new infections set a 24-hour record, rising above 30,000 for the first time since the start of the epidemic. There were a total of 30,621 new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, up on Wednesday’s 22,591, taking the cumulative number of cases to 809,684. On Wednesday, the French president Emmanuel Macron ordered a nightly curfew in Paris and eight other big cities where the coronavirus is actively spreading.
  • Germany’s foreign ministry has warned against non-essential travel to France, the Netherlands, Malta and Slovakia from Saturday due to high coronavirus infection rates.
  • Europe has recorded its highest ever weekly number of new Covid-19 cases, the World Health Organization has said, warning that without effective countermeasures daily death rates could reach four or five times their April peak within months.
  • More than half of countries in the EU, plus the UK, were on Thursday labelled red in a new map issued by the bloc’s disease control agency aimed at guiding decisions on travel restrictions. The map was issued after EU member states decided on Tuesday to coordinate their approach to travel restrictions on other countries in response to Covid-19 outbreaks.
  • As Switzerland sees record high Covid-19 infection numbers on a daily basis, the health minister warned Thursday that the situation is “deteriorating” at an alarming rate.
  • US president Donald Trump on Thursday said he is willing to raise his offer of $1.8 trillion for a Covid-19 relief package to get a deal with House of Representatives Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a move likely to raise concern among his fellow Republicans in the Senate.
  • Italy’s coronavirus infections reached 8,804 on Thursday, up by almost 1,500 in a day, while deaths almost doubled to 83. Daily records were registered in Lombardy, where there were over 2,000 new cases, Campania and Piedmont. Cases in the southern Campania region, which was relatively unscathed by the first wave of the pandemic, eclipsed 1,000 in a day for the first time.
  • The Czech Republic will start building capacity for Covid-19 patients outside of hospitals, officials said on Thursday, as the country faces the fastest rate of infections in Europe.
  • The president of the European Commission says she is going into self-isolation with immediate effect after a colleague tested positive for Covid-19.

Brazil has registered another 713 coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours and 28,523 new positive cases, the health ministry said on Thursday evening.

The country has now registered 152,460 total coronavirus deaths and 5,169,386 total confirmed cases.

All House of Commons bars and restaurants will be banned from selling alcohol as of Saturday, the Speaker has confirmed.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle said:

Following the [UK] government’s decision to move London into the Tier 2 Covid-alert category, I have asked the parliamentary authorities to introduce measures to bring the House of Commons into line with the national picture.

As MPs represent different constituencies in different tiers - with the very highest level ordering the closure of pubs - I have decided to stop the sale of alcohol across the House of Commons-end of the estate from this Saturday.

This means it will not be possible to buy an alcoholic drink from any of our catering outlets for the foreseeable future - whether food is served or not.

The House of Commons Commission will be meeting on Monday to consider other measures needed to protect MPs, their staff and House staff, while maintaining our Covid-secure status.”

The UK government’s flagship policy for tackling the coronavirus in England has descended into chaos after mayors and MPs from the north-west of the country emphatically rejected being moved into the highest lockdown level and accused ministers of treating the region with contempt.

Talks to reach an agreement ended with bitter and angry exchanges, deepening a north-south rift that has left the government’s strategy of tiered restrictions in turmoil.

While ministers could still unilaterally impose a lockdown, they believe local leaders’ cooperation is crucial in communicating and enforcing the restrictions.

The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said he would not accept his area being treated “as canaries in the coalmine for an experimental regional lockdown strategy”, one he said even the government’s own medical advisers did not think would work.

Burnham was backed by exasperated MPs from Greater Manchester, and from Lancashire, the other area set to join the Liverpool city region in the “very high-risk” tier 3 category, which entails the closure of pubs and bars.

This included a number of Conservatives. One said of negotiating with the government: “You might as well talk to a wall.”

Another Labour MP described the talks as a “shitshow”.

The full story is here:

Spain’s cumulative tally of coronavirus infections rose by over 13,300 to 921,374 in a slight acceleration from the previous few days, as Catalonia prepared to shut down bars and restaurants in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.

Data from the health ministry, which includes new cases and deaths in the past 24 hours and adds to the total retroactively, also showed the death toll rising by 140 to 33,553.

Still, the number of daily infections in the pandemic’s hotspot in western Europe has come down somewhat from a peak of over 16,000 on 18 September, according to health ministry charts.

The health emergency coordinator Fernando Simon told a briefing:

Spain is stabilising, but the territorial differences are important. We cannot let our guard down. In none of the regions we have the incidence indicators we’d like to have.

Catalonia, which includes Spain’s second-largest city of Barcelona, has ordered bars and restaurants to close for 15 days to try to curb a surge in coronavirus cases and the region’s top court on Thursday gave its go-ahead to the new restrictions from 1 a.m. on Friday.

Hospitality sector workers have called a protest rally for Friday.

The capital Madrid and nearby suburbs were put into partial lockdown last week, and residents feared any further drastic measures would kill off the economy.

“The economy will go backwards,” health worker Victoria Maria told Reuters, expressing her fear of more restrictive measures.

They have to evaluate it and find solutions for all of us because if not we will be ruined, not only health-wise but also economically.

Sindo Gonzalez carries products before the midday service of the last of day of opening for the Envalira Restaurant before the introduction of new restrictions come into force in Barcelona. Photograph: David Ramos/Getty Images

France's new infections set 24-hour record, above 30,000

French health authorities on Thursday reported the number of new daily coronavirus infections rose above 30,000 for the first time since the start of the epidemic.

There were a total of 30,621 new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, up on Wednesday’s 22,591, while hospitalisations and deaths linked to the disease also rose.

The number of people in France who have died from Covid-19 infections rose by 88 to 33,125, versus 104 on Wednesday. The cumulative number of cases now totals 809,684. Patients in ICU now total 1,750, an increase of 77 in 24 hours.

The French president Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday ordered a nightly curfew in Paris and eight other big cities where the coronavirus is actively spreading.

France: Macron announces 9pm curfew for Paris and eight other cities – video
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Germany’s foreign ministry has warned against non-essential travel to France, the Netherlands, Malta and Slovakia from Saturday due to high coronavirus infection rates.

Summary of the latest updates

Sarah Marsh
Sarah Marsh

I will shortly be handing over the live blog to my colleague who will take over. Below is a summary of the latest developments:

  • Europe has recorded its highest ever weekly number of new Covid-19 cases, the World Health Organization has said, warning that without effective countermeasures daily death rates could reach four or five times their April peak within months.
  • More than half of countries in the EU, plus the UK, were on Thursday labelled red in a new map issued by the bloc’s disease control agency aimed at guiding decisions on travel restrictions. The map was issued after EU member states decided on Tuesday to coordinate their approach to travel restrictions on other countries in response to Covid-19 outbreaks.
  • As Switzerland sees record high Covid-19 infection numbers on a daily basis, the health minister warned Thursday that the situation is “deteriorating” at an alarming rate.
  • US president Donald Trump on Thursday said he is willing to raise his offer of $1.8 trillion for a Covid-19 relief package to get a deal with House of Representatives Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a move likely to raise concern among his fellow Republicans in the Senate.
  • Italy’s coronavirus infections reached 8,804 on Thursday, up by almost 1,500 in a day, while deaths almost doubled to 83. Daily records were registered in Lombardy, where there were over 2,000 new cases, Campania and Piedmont. Cases in the southern Campania region, which was relatively unscathed by the first wave of the pandemic, eclipsed 1,000 in a day for the first time.
  • The Czech Republic will start building capacity for Covid-19 patients outside of hospitals, officials said on Thursday, as the country faces the fastest rate of infections in Europe.
  • The president of the European Commission says she is going into self-isolation with immediate effect after a colleague tested positive for Covid-19.

Wisconsin and other states in the US Midwest are battling a surge in Covid-19 cases, with new infections and hospitalizations rising to record levels in an ominous sign of a nationwide resurgence as temperatures get colder.

More than 22,000 new cases were reported on Wednesday across the Midwest, eclipsing the previous record of more than 20,000 on 9 October. Hospitalizations in those states reached a record high for a 10th consecutive day, as some hospitals began feeling the strain.
More than 86% of the beds in Wisconsin’s intensive care units were in use as of Wednesday.

A field hospital opened in a Milwaukee suburb in case medical facilities become overwhelmed. Neat rows of makeshift cubicles enclosing beds and medical supplies occupied the fairgrounds in West Allis, which has been the home of the Wisconsin State Fair since the late 1800s.

Dr Paul Casey, the medical director of the emergency department at Bellin Hospital in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said entire wards full of Covid-19 patients were stretching resources “to the limit.”

“It’s going to get worse,” he told CNN on Thursday. “We predict it will peak mid-Novemeber.”

More than 1,000 people were hospitalized for Covid-19 in Wisconsin on Wednesday, the state’s health department said. Health authorities recorded a near 25% spike in coronavirus hospitalizations in the past seven days compared to the previous week.

More than half of countries in the EU, plus the UK, were on Thursday labelled red in a new map issued by the bloc’s disease control agency aimed at guiding decisions on travel restrictions.

The map was issued after EU member states decided on Tuesday to coordinate their approach to travel restrictions on other countries in response to Covid-19 outbreaks.

Seventeen of 31 countries covered by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) were labelled red or mostly red, meaning average daily cases over the previous 14-day period were 50 or higher per 100,000 inhabitants coupled with a test positivity rate of over 4%.

The red rating is if the 14-day notification rate is 150 cases or higher per 100,000.

In addition to the 27 EU countries, the ECDC covers the UK, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

A green rating means the 14-day notification rate is lower than 25 cases per 100,000 and the test positivity rate below 4%, and orange are those that fall between red and green.

Member states agreed not to impose travel restrictions on travellers from regions rated “green”, but none achieved that level nationwide.

For countries that are red and orange, members states are free to decide what measures, if any, they wish to impose but could, for instance, require travellers coming from those countries to undergo quarantine or a Covid-19 test.

Five countries - Austria, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland - did not receive a rating, with the agency citing a lack of information.

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