26 August
Global: Global Covid-19 infections have passed 23.9 million with almost 820,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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Rates of transmission are easing in many parts of the world, the World Health Organisation has suggested. Governments have been ramping up efforts to contain the disease, which has claimed the lives of nearly 820,000 people and infected almost 24 million since late last year.
Europe: Two European patients were confirmed to have been re-infected with coronavirus, raising concerns about immunity. Regional public broadcasters said a patient in the Netherlands and another in Belgium had been re-infected.
US: Coronavirus cases in the US increased 0.6% to 5.76 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. The increase was lower than the average daily gain of 0.8% over the past week. Deaths rose by 0.4% to 177,773.
The number of Americans newly diagnosed with the coronavirus is falling. About 43,000 new cases are being reported daily across the country, down 21% from early August, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
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By GlobalDataTurkey: Turkey recorded its highest number of new coronavirus cases since mid-June. Another 1,502 infections were confirmed on Tuesday, according to government data, taking the official tally over 261,000.
India: India reported the highest number of new coronavirus cases globally for the 18th straight day. Infections rocketed by another 1.5 million since the start of August, taking India’s total to more than 3.2 million.
Mexico: Mexico has confirmed 4,916 new cases of the disease and 650 more deaths, bringing its totals to 568,621 cases and 61,450 deaths.
Myanmar: Myanmar has reported 70 new cases of coronavirus, its biggest daily jump since the pandemic began. The health ministry did not say where the new cases were found.
China: China has reported 15 new cases in the mainland – all of them in people returned from overseas.The mainland has not confirmed a domestically transmitted case in 10 days. It also had 14 new asymptomatic cases, which are not included in confirmed cases. The death toll remains unchanged at 4,634.
South Korea: South Korea has ordered doctors in Seoul to return to work on Wednesday as they began a three-day strike in protest against several government proposals. South Korea is battling one of its worst outbreaks of the coronavirus, with 320 new cases reported in the 24 hours to midnight Tuesday.
North Korea: Kim Jong Un has told North Korea to step up prevention efforts against the coronavirus. The country has not reported any confirmed cases of the virus, but imposed a strict lockdown in the city of Kaesong after a man there showed symptoms of the disease. Later tests were inconclusive, according to the WHO.
Australia: The southern state of Victoria has reported its second deadliest day of the pandemic with 24 deaths and 149 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours. Melbourne, the state’s capital and the second-biggest city in Australia, is midway through a six-week lockdown and curfew as it battles a resurgence of the disease.
Argentina: Argentina reported 8,771 new confirmed Covid-19 cases for a national total of 359,638, according to the government, the second straight record daily tally. The government reported 162 deaths, for a total of 7,563.
Lockdown updates
Gaza: Gaza entered a 48-hour lockdown after the first cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the general population. Four cases of coronavirus were confirmed in a single family in a refugee camp, the first in Gaza that did not involve people quarantined in border facilities after crossing over from Egypt and Israel.
Singapore: Singapore will tighten border measures for travellers arriving from South Korea after a resurgence of virus cases there. Those who have travelled to or transited in South Korea within the past two weeks will be required to serve a 14-day quarantine at government-run facilities when they enter Singapore, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
Japan: Japan is considering how to make social-distancing rules more binding as it confronts a wave of coronavirus cases larger than the one that prompted a state of emergency in April-May, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said. Future emergency declarations could be targeted to specific areas or industries, said Nishimura, who heads the country’s virus response.
Hawaii: Hawaii’s most populous island is returning to a stay-at-home order while officials conduct 70,000 Covid-19 tests in the next two weeks. The federal government will help officials test 5,000 people in Oahu every day for two weeks, the Associated Press reported.
UK: Pupils in England will no longer be advised against using face masks in schools after prime minister Boris Johnson made an 11th-hour U-turn days before students head back to the classroom.
Economic updates
Australia: Australia will boost defence spending by A$1 billion ($716.80 million) in the government’s latest attempt to help the country’s coronavirus-hit economy. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the money will be used to upgrade military facilities and offer additional paid employment to some 27,000 reservists.
