|
 10,000 deaths in 11 days
U.S. deaths from the novel coronavirus were approaching 150,000 on
Wednesday, the highest level in the world and up by 10,000 in 11
days, a Reuters tally showed.
This is the fastest increase in fatalities since the United States
went from 100,000 cases to 110,000 cases in 11 days in early June.
Nationally, COVID-19 deaths have risen for three weeks in a row
while the number of new cases week-on-week fell for the first time
since June.
A spike in infections in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas this
month has overwhelmed hospitals. The rise has forced states to make
a U-turn on reopening economies that were restricted by lockdowns in
March and April.
Wrangling resumes in Washington
Top Trump administration officials and Democratic congressional
leaders will try on Wednesday to narrow their differences over a
coronavirus aid bill, with no guarantees they can craft a compromise
before some jobless benefits expire at the end of this week.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff
Mark Meadows were expected to resume negotiations with the two
senior Democrats in Congress - House of Representatives Speaker
Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
An hour-long meeting of the four broke up on Tuesday with no sign of
progress.
Senate Republican leaders are pushing for around $1 trillion in new
aid, on top of more than $3 trillion enacted since early this year.
Democrats see a far greater need as they back $3 trillion in new
spending.
'Quarantine roulette'
Heathrow Airport, once Europe's busiest, called on Britain to
urgently back a passenger testing regime, warning that without one,
the country's strict quarantine rules will stop travel, stall the
economy and lead to more job losses.
Heathrow said that to avoid losing a game of global "quarantine
roulette", the government should change its rules to cut quarantine
from 14 days to around eight for passengers who take two tests over
the course of a week.
The worst public health crisis since the 1918 influenza outbreak has
wrought economic turmoil across the world and just as the travel
industry restarted there are fears of a second wave of shutdowns
after Britain hastily imposed a quarantine on travellers from Spain.
[to top of second column] |
The cost of having a coronavirus test at the airport would be about 150 pounds
($195) per person and the passenger would be expected to pay.
Aged care home crisis in Australia
Australia has sent defence and emergency medical teams, usually deployed to
disaster zones, to aged care homes in Melbourne to help contain the country's
worst outbreak of the virus. There are 804 active COVID-19 cases linked to the
homes, including workers, state premier Daniel Andrews said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison described as "very distressing" the situation in
13 care facilities in the state of Victoria, of which Melbourne is capital.
The outbreaks have largely been due to transmission from workers at the homes,
many of whom might have been unaware they were carrying the virus. "When it
rains, everyone gets wet. And that is what we're seeing with broad-based
community transmission in Victoria," Morrison said.
Melbourne, Australia's second-most populous city, is in the midst of a reimposed
lockdown that has stalled the reopening of businesses, forced other states to
shut borders with Victoria and held off reopening travel with New Zealand.
Brink of large coronavirus outbreak
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam warned the city is on the brink of a large-scale
outbreak and urged people to stay indoors as strict measures to curb the spread
took effect on Wednesday.
The new regulations ban gatherings of more than two people, close dining in
restaurants and make the wearing of face masks mandatory in public places,
including outdoors. These are the toughest measures introduced in the city since
the outbreak.
The government has also tightened testing and quarantine arrangements for sea
and air crew members. The measures will be in place for at least seven days.
(Compiled by Linda Noakes and Karishma Singh; editing by Barbara Lewis)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
