Seven states in US post record Covid cases, curfew in Miami
Washington: Alabama and six other US states reported record increase in Coronavirus cases on Friday as Florida's most populous county imposed a curfew ahead of the Independence Day weekend and Arkansas joined a push toward mandating mask-wearing in public. North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alaska, Missouri, Idaho and Alabama all registered new daily highs in cases, Reuters reported.
The recent surge in the southerna dn western states has alarmed public health officials.
The daily US tally of cases stood at 53,483 late on Friday, below the previous day's record 55,405.
New York state reported 918 new coronavirus infections and nine deaths, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
It's the first time more than 900 new infections have been reported since June 12, when 916 people tested positive for the virus statewide.
The more than 900 new cases in New York yesterday, while representing just 1.38 per cent of tests, is a reminder that the virus is still here, the Democratic governor said in a news release.
He added, I cannot repeat enough that our actions today — those of individuals being smart and following all precautions, and local governments enforcing the state's guidelines — will determine which direction these numbers go.
Meanwhile, Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of President Donald Trump's oldest son, has contracted the coronavirus.
Sergio Gor, chief of staff to the Trump campaign's finance committee, says Guilfoyle was immediately isolated after the positive result to limit exposure.
He says she will be retested to confirm the diagnosis because she isn't showing any symptoms of COVID-19, the disease the virus causes. Gor says Guilfoyle is doing well and canceling her public events.
Gor says Donald Trump Jr. tested negative but is self-isolating as a precaution. He is also canceling his public events.
The couple was in South Dakota to hold fundraisers for Trump's reelection.
Trump is giving a pre-Fourth of July speech at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
Iranians who do not wear masks will be denied state services and workplaces that fail to comply with health protocols will be shut for a week, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday as he launched new measures to try to curb the coronavirus.
Iran has been battling the spread of the coronavirus, with the total number of cases hitting 237,878 on Saturday and a further 148 deaths bringing the country's toll to 11,408, Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on state television.
Wearing masks becomes mandatory from Sunday in covered public places, Rouhani said on state television after tougher curbs were imposed in cities and towns in five provinces where the outbreak is rising after an easing of lockdowns from mid-April.
"Government employees should not serve people who do not wear masks and employees who do not wear them should be considered absentees and sent home," said Rouhani.
And a government website published photos of Rouhani, who is rarely seen wearing a mask, with a face covering.
Those infected have a "religious duty" to notify others, Rouhani said, adding: "Keeping your infection a secret violates the rights of other people".
The government has been trying to convince a reluctant public to accept masks and a week-long campaign by state television has been warning viewers that "Corona is not a joke".
One TV presenter at the end of every newscast puts on her mask and says: "There is no one in my immediate three metres, but I wear a mask outside the studio. You, too, wear one."
State media reported on Saturday that 19 Iranian football players from the national Esteghlal and Foolad Khuzestan clubs had tested positive for the coronavirus.
And five Iranian members of parliament have also tested positive, the semi-official Fars news agency said.
Meanwhile, Iran's armed forces have reduced their basic combat training to a month because of the increased spread.
Covid cases cross 2 lakh mark in Saudi Arabia, weeks ahead of Hajj pilgrimage
After recording 4,193 new cases on Friday, Saudi Arabia has become the first country in the Gulf to cross the 2,00,000 mark, weeks ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in the sacred city of Mecca.
The country's caseload now stands at 2,01,801.
This year's pilgrimage has been drastically cut back due to the pandemic. While the Hajj usually attracts over 2 million devotees from across the world, this year Saudi Arabia has severely restricted the number of pilgrims who can attend. Only around 1,000 devotees will be allowed to perform the Hajj this year.
As many as 1,802 Covid-related deaths have been reported in the country so far.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on Saturday urged residents of the Japanese capital not to travel beyond its borders as new coronavirus infections topped 100 for a third day, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on Saturday urged residents of the Japanese capital not to travel beyond its borders as new coronavirus infections topped 100 for a third day, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Authorities in northeastern Spain on Saturday ordered the lockdown of a county around the city of Lleida due to worrying outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus.
Catalan regional authorities announced that as of noon local time movement will be restricted to and from El Segri , around Lleida, which is home to over 200,000 people. Residents will have until 4 p.m. local to enter the area.
This is the first restriction of free movement since the end of Spain's state of emergency on June 21.
Regional health authorities said Friday that they had registered a jump in 60 cases in 24 hours, taking the total number of infections to over 4,000 in the county.
The new outbreaks are linked to agricultural workers in the rural area. Spain was completely locked down from March to June to get its coronavirus outbreak under control, before its national government ended a state of emergency. Over 28,000 people are confirmed to have died from the virus in Spain.
