LIVE updates from Coronavirus: The United States set a record for coronavirus cases on Saturday, with more than 5 million people now infected, as the country’s official infectious disease earlier this week hopes to provide an effective vaccine against it. could be available by the end of the year. With one in every 66 residents infected, the United States leads the world in COVID-19 cases, according to a Reuters analysis. The country has recorded more than 160,000 deaths, nearly a quarter of the world’s total. The grim milestone comes when President Donald Trump signed executive orders intended to provide economic relief to Americans hurt by the coronavirus pandemic after the White House failed to reach a deal with Congress.
Here are the latest updates on the pandemic:
• Brazil overcame 100,000 coronavirus deaths and three million cases of infection on Saturday, according to the latest tally from the Ministry of Public Health. With 100,447 deaths and 3,012,412 confirmed cases, the South American country of 212 million people is the second hardest hit country in the global pandemic, after the United States. The Ministry of Health reported 905 new deaths in the past 24 hours, as well as 49,970 new cases. But the official figures are likely to be an undercount, with experts estimating that the total number of infections could be up to six times higher due to insufficient testing.
• President Donald Trump on Saturday signed executive action to extend financial relief to Americans affected by the coronavirus pandemic because polls showed a large majority of voters were dissatisfied with his handling of the crisis. The four measures marked a presidential show of strength after Trump’s Republican party and White House team disagreed with opposition Democrats in Congress over a new incentive package aimed at stopping vulnerable Americans from falling through the cracks. “We have it and we will save American jobs and provide relief to American workers,” Trump said at a news conference at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he spent the weekend.
• Parisians and holidaymakers walking along the banks of the River Seine or searching through open air markets in Paris will have to wear a face mask from Monday after authorities imposed new measures to curb the rise of coronavirus infections. The order, applicable to people aged 11 and over, occupies busy open areas in the French capital, although tourist sites such as the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysees boulevard were not mentioned. Data showed that since mid-July, the virus has started circulating more in Paris and its suburbs with lower incomes. The rate of positive testing in the greater region of Paris now stood at 2.4% compared to a national average of 1.6%, it said.
