World ‘nowhere close’ to needed coronavirus herd immunity: Live | News

• The World Health Organization has said the planet is nowhere near the amount of coronavirus immunity needed to induce herd immunity, where enough of the population would have antibodies to stop the spread.

• South Africa relaxes lockdown restrictions allowing bars, restaurants, gyms and places of worship to reopen.

• The number of people diagnosed with COVID-19 around the world now exceeds 21.8 million, and more than 774,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 13.9 million people have recovered from the disease.

Here are the latest updates.

16:55 GMT – COVID-19 pandemic causes mental health crisis in Americas: WHO official

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a mental health crisis in the Americas due to heightened stress and use of drugs and alcohol during six months of lockdowns and stay-at-home measures, the World Health Organization’s regional director said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a mental health crisis in our region at a scale we’ve never seen before,” Carissa Etienne said in a virtual briefing from the Pan American Health Organization in Washington.

“It is urgent that mental health support is considered a critical component of the pandemic response.”

16:40 GMT – Pandemic-hit Chile GDP plunges 14 percent

Chile’s GDP plunged 14.1 percent in the second quarter, the Central Bank has said, after the coronavirus pandemic mauled economic activity with the exception of the vital mining sector.

Among the worst-hit sectors were manufacturing, construction and the hotel and restaurant sector. In the first quarter, Chilean GDP had increased slightly by 0.2 percent.

“In the second quarter of the year, economic activity decreased by 14.1 percent compared to the same period last year,” the Central Bank said.

16:25 GMT – Poland’s health minister resigns after virus response criticised

Poland’s Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski has said he was resigning from his post, the second resignation in two days from the ministry, which has faced growing criticism for its handling of the coronavirus crisis.

Szumowski’s approach in the early stages of the pandemic made him Poland’s most trusted politician in April, but his image has been dented by scandals surrounding the purchase of ventilators and masks.

Szumowski has denied any wrongdoing.

16:10 GMT – Lebanon reimposes lockdown amid COVID-19 spike: ministry

Lebanese authorities have announced a new lockdown and an overnight curfew to rein in a spike in coronavirus infections.

The new measures will come into effect on Friday and last just over two weeks, the interior ministry said, adding that they would not affect the clean-up and aid effort following the devastating August 4 Beirut port blast.

The airport is expected to remain open and all traffic to and from is allowed if passengers can show authorities a ticket from their trip.

15:55 GMT – Tennis-Individual tests positive for COVID-19 at US Open bubble

A non-player has tested positive for COVID-19 within the controlled environment that will host this year’s Western & Southern Open and US Open in New York over the next month, the United States Tennis Association has said.

The individual is asymptomatic and has been advised that they must isolate for at least ten days, while contact tracing has been initiated to determine if anyone else must go into quarantine, the USTA said in a statement.

15:40 GMT – UAE sees ‘alarming’ increase in coronavirus cases

 An increase in the number of coronavirus cases over the past two weeks is “alarming” and may herald further increases in the near future, the United Arab Emirates’ health minister has said.

The UAE registered 365 new cases and two deaths over the last 24 hours, the government said, bringing the total number of COVID-19 infections in the Gulf state since the start of the pandemic to 64,906 with 366 deaths.

15:25 GMT – Merkel rules out easing coronavirus rules as German cases spike

Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned there could be no further relaxation of coronavirus restrictions while Germany grapples with a surge in new infections.

She urged Germans to follow the rules on hygiene precautions and reminded travellers returning from risk areas that quarantine was not an option “but a must” so long as they could not show a negative test.

“We are seeing that an increase in mobility and closer contacts are leading to a higher number of cases,” Merkel told a press conference in Duesseldorf.

15:10 GMT – UK records 1,089 new COVID-19 cases

The United Kingdom has recorded 1,089 new positive cases of COVID-19, up from 713 on Monday, government figures showed.

A further 12 people died after testing positive for the coronavirus within 28 days. The UK has recorded more than 1,000 daily cases on eight out of the last 10 days.

14:55 GMT – Dozens of Kenyan doctors strike over lack of PPE, delayed pay

Dozens of doctors in at least two of Kenya’s 47 counties have gone on strike over delayed salaries, inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for handling COVID-19 patients and lack of medical insurance, a union official told Reuters.

Kenya has a total 30,636 confirmed infections, with 487 deaths, according to health ministry data.

Healthcare workers say they have not been given adequate PPE, but the government has said it has distributed enough to go round.

14:40 GMT – Brazil greenlights human trials for J&J’s potential vaccine

Brazil has approved human clinical trials for a potential COVID-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson, the fourth candidate to trial in the Latin American country that has become key to the global race for a vaccine.

Health regulator Anvisa said it had given the green light to the study which will see 6,000 people in Brazil volunteer to trial the vaccine contender of Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical subsidiary Janssen.

With the world’s biggest coronavirus outbreak outside the United States, Brazil has become a hub for mass clinical trials of potential vaccines.

14:35 GMT

Hello, this is Elizabeth Melimopoulos taking over the live updates from my colleague Hamza Mohamed in Doha.

Tuesday, August 18

12:35 GMT – France says masks to be made compulsory in most workplaces

Masks will be compulsory in workplaces in France, apart from individual offices where only one employee is present, the French employment ministry said on Tuesday, as the government looks to fight against a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ministry added in a statement that working from home would remain its recommended option for employees.

12:05 GMT – Namibia warns about elephant dung cure for coronavirus

The Namibian government is warning its citizens not to trust claims on social media that elephant dung can cure COVID-19, as coronavirus infections rise more rapidly.

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism spokesman, Romeo Muyunda, told Reuters the government had observed that elephant dung was increasingly being touted as a COVID-19 cure.

Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula said COVID-19 currently has no known cure.

Some traditional healers say elephant dung has healing properties, including for treating headaches, toothaches and blocked sinuses, but claiming it can cure COVID-19 is a new trend [Getty Images]

11:25 GMT – Study links COVID-19 to rise in childhood type 1 diabetes

Cases of type 1 diabetes among children in a small UK study almost doubled during the peak of country’s COVID-19 epidemic, suggesting a possible link between the two diseases that needs more investigation, scientists said on Tuesday.

While the study is based on only a handful of cases, it is the first to link COVID-19 and new-onset type 1 diabetes in children, and doctors should be on the lookout, the Imperial College London researchers said.

Karen Logan, who co-led the study, said previous reports from China and Italy had noted that children were being diagnosed in hospitals with new-onset type 1 diabetes during the pandemic.

The study, published in the Diabetes Care journal, analysed data from 30 children in London hospitals diagnosed with new-onset type 1 diabetes during the first peak of the pandemic – around double the cases seen in this period in previous years [Radu Sigheti/Reuters]

10:30 GMT – South Africa eases coronavirus restrictions

South Africa, which had one of the world’s strictest anti-coronavirus lockdowns for five months, relaxed its restrictions on Tuesday in response to a decrease in new cases.

The country loosened its regulations to permit the sale of alcohol and cigarettes, and the reopening of bars, restaurants, gyms and places of worship, all limited to no more than 50 people.

Schools will reopen gradually starting August 24.

South Africa has recorded more than 589,880 cases and at least 11,982 deaths [Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters]

09:55 GMT – Philippines reports 4,836 new coronavirus cases

The Philippines’ health ministry on Tuesday confirmed 4,836 novel coronavirus infections, the seventh straight day of reporting more than 3,000 cases, and seven additional deaths.

In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed cases had increased to 169,213, while deaths had reached 2,687.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday eased the strict coronavirus lockdown in the capital Manila and nearby provinces to reopen the economy and help struggling businesses, despite the country having the highest number of infections in Southeast Asia.

09:20 GMT – French side Marseille confirm three more coronavirus cases

Olympique Marseille have confirmed three more cases of coronavirus at the club, taking the total to four before they open the new Ligue 1 season at home to St Etienne on Friday.

Marseille said in a statement on Tuesday that testing on Monday did not reveal new cases but confirmed three suspected cases from Sunday.

Marseille cancelled a pre-season friendly with Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart last week due to a positive test for COVID-19 [Christof Stache/Reuters]

Last season’s Ligue 1 was abandoned due to the global pandemic though Paris Saint-Germain were declared champions.

08:45 GMT – Indonesia reports 1,673 new coronavirus infections

Indonesia reported 1,673 new infections on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases in the Southeast Asian nation to 143,043, data from the country’s health ministry showed.

The data recorded an additional 70 deaths, taking the total to 6,277.

08:15 GMT – Foreign residents still need permission to return to Dubai

Foreign residents of Dubai who have been overseas still need permission to return to the city, the emirate said.

The United Arab Emirates in March suspended the entry of non-citizens as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease. Residents have since gradually been allowed to return, either after being granted a special exemption or by registering online, though many still remain overseas.

Last week, a federal policy requiring overseas residents to seek approval before they returned to the Gulf state was lifted. However, Dubai still requires residents to apply for an entry permit, the emirate said in a statement.

Those travelling to the UAE need to obtain a negative COVID-19 test before arriving.

The UAE has recorded 64,541 infections and 364 deaths [Francois Nel/Getty]

07:45 GMT – Russia confirms 4,748 new cases

Russia reported 4,748 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, pushing its nationwide tally to 932,493, the fourth largest in the world.

The country’s coronavirus crisis response centre said 132 people had died of the disease in the last 24 hours, bringing the official coronavirus death toll to 15,872.

Only the US, Brazil and India have recorded more cases than Russia [Pavel Golovkin/AP]

07:30 GMT – UK retailer Marks and Spencer to axe 7,000 jobs

Marks and Spencer, the British retail chain selling clothing and food, is to cut about 7,000 jobs as the coronavirus pandemic keeps shoppers away from its stores, it announced on Tuesday.

The job cuts, to be carried out over the next three months, include losses from its central support centre, in regional management and in its UK stores, M&S said in a statement.

07:20 GMT – Indian minister back in hospital after recovering from COVID-19

India’s Home Minister Amit Shah was hospitalised again on Tuesday after complaining of fatigue and body ache, four days after he said he had recovered from COVID-19.

Shah, a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the virtual number-two in his cabinet, was admitted to the government-run All India Institute for Medical Sciences in the capital New Delhi, the hospital said in a statement.

“He is comfortable and continuing his work from the hospital,” it said, adding he had now tested negative for COVID-19.

Shah is the highest-profile Indian politician to have been infected with the coronavirus [File: Prakash Singh/AFP]

India has reported the world’s third-largest number of infections after the United States and Brazil, with cases topping 50,000 every day since July 30.

07:00 GMT – Russian minister to join OPEC meeting after testing positive for COVID-19

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak will join an OPEC ministers’ video meeting on Wednesday despite testing positive for coronavirus while on a work trip in Russia’s far east, the energy ministry said.

“The minister feels good. He has no symptoms,” a ministry spokeswoman told Reuters news agency.

Novak is in Russia’s far east as part of a government delegation headed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, who had contracted the novel coronavirus in late April.

Novak will continue working remotely for the time being, energy ministry spokeswoman Olga Golant said [Maxim Shemetov/Reuters]

06:15 GMT – More than 680 people die of COVID-19 in Brazil

Brazil recorded 684 coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 108,536, the country’s health ministry said.

At least 19,373 more people have contracted the virus, the ministry added, taking the total to 3,359,570.

With a population of 46 million, Sao Paulo remains the hardest-hit region in the country with 702,655 cases and 26,899 deaths.

More than 2.48 million people have recovered from the disease in the South American country [Tarso Sarraf/AFP] 

05:45 GMT –

Hello, this is Hamza Mohamed in Doha, Qatar, taking over from my colleague Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur.

05:30 GMT – South Korea braces for second wave, with cases linked to church services

South Korea reported 246 more cases of coronavirus – 235 of them locally acquired – on Tuesday, its fifth day of triple-digit increases.

Of the new cases, 131 were reported in Seoul and 52 in the surrounding Gyeonggi province. 

Scores of cases have been traced to the Sarang Jeil Church in the north of the capital, and authorities have urged people who attended an anti-government rally on Saturday to get tested because some church followers known to have the virus were at the protest.

05:15 GMT – Hongkong Post to test front-line workers

Hongkong Post says it will arrange COVID-19 testing for about 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.

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 election.

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. 

An installation on Rio’s Copacabana Beach to honour the people who have died from COVID-19 in Brazil [Antonio Lacerda/EPA]

01:30 GMT – New Zealand reports 13 new cases

New Zealand’s reported 13 new cases of coronavirus over the past 24 hours.

Twelve 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.