Victoria
Victoria has recorded six new cases and no deaths today as pressure is placed on Premier Daniel Andrews to ease Melbourne’s lockdown restrictions.
Residents of the state’s COVID hotspot in Shepparton have undergone testing with 350 tests returning back negative and more results to come. A further 2,000 residents will be tested today in an attempt to contain the cluster.
The 14-day statewide average is now standing at 9.5 cases a day. As per Andrews’ plan, a daily average of five cases will be required for Victoria to progress to the next step of the plan towards an ultimate COVID-Normal.
Andrews is expected to announce some eased restrictions on Sunday.
Australia
New South Wales has recorded 14 new cases yesterday and 11 new cases today, surpassing Victoria’s daily average for the first time since June.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Wednesday that she is becoming increasingly worried about the rise in infections in her state.
“Our state is on the verge of being where it was when we had the first seeding incident from Victoria,” she said.
A 51-year-old Victorian woman was found hiding in a truck near the Queensland border by police yesterday. Both her and the 61-year-old male truck driver she was with were issued a $4,003 fine for failing to comply with the Queensland Border Direction.
Queensland has reported one new case of COVID-19 overnight, bringing the total active cases in the state to two.
France
France will revert back to a state of emergency with an added 9:00pm-6:00am curfew in populous areas including Paris, Rouen, Lille, St Etienne, Lyon, Grenoble, Montpelier, Marseille, and Toulouse.
French President Emmaneul Macron announced the restrictions today and said they will be in place from Saturday. A 135 euro fine will be issued to anyone who breaks the curfew.
France currently has over 12,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing their total since 3 January to 728,745 with 32,679 deaths.
United Kingdom
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has refused to implement a nationwide lockdown across England, despite his scientific advisors’ recommendations.
Sir Keir Starmer, the opposition Labour leader, has called for a two to three week “circuit breaker” lockdown to curb the spread as winter approaches.
“The government has not got a credible plan to slow infections. It has lost control of the virus and it’s no longer scientific advice,” Sir Keir said.
He suggested the lockdown be implemented during the mid-term break to minimise disruptions to students and ensured that restaurants, pubs, and bars would be compensated for the closures.
The UK has over 19,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, up from over 5,500 last week with 43,155 confirmed deaths.
United States of America
The US continues to see an increase of case numbers as more than 40 states have seen a week-to-week increase. The US has currently surpassed 8 million recorded cases, with 5 million of them recovered, and a total of 221,840 deaths.
After US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, they have revealed their 14-year-old son has caught the virus.
Barron Trump’s first test came back negative but got the result back positive the second time. Melania says she has no doubts her son will recover.
“My fear came true when he was tested again, and it came up positive. Luckily, he is a strong teenager and exhibited no symptoms,” she said.
The First Lady has also shared her experience with COVID-19 and confirms she is recovering.
“I experienced body aches, a cough and headaches, and felt extremely tired most of the time,” she said.
“I was very fortunate as my diagnosis came with minimal symptoms, though they hit me all at once.”
Asia
China’s case numbers have remained steady as they’ve seen low double digits for the past couple of weeks. China has recorded a total of just over 85,000 cases, with 241 active cases and 4,634 total deaths.
Japan records over 90,000 cases and 1,638 deaths while the number of seriously ill people continue to fall. Data continues to show that people in their 20s are making the largest group of new infections, followed by people in their 40s.
India continues to see an increase in cases. They have conducted nearly 80 million tests since the start of the global pandemic and have seen more than 100 thousand deaths. The overall death toll in India is currently the third-highest in the world.
Photo: Protective masks, normally used for surgery, are now used to fight the Corona Virus SARS-nCov-19 by Mika Baumeister available HERE and used under a Creative Commons Attribution. The image has not been modified.
