Covid-19 wrap | China says Pompeo is “ crazy ” over virus theory, Italy alleviates world’s longest blockade and chaos outside liquor stores in India



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Keeping you up-to-date with the latest coronavirus (Covid-19) news from around the world.

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China says Pompeo is “ crazy ” over virus laboratory origin theory

China’s state-run CCTV network on Monday attacked US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s “crazy and evasive comments” on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, further fueling Sino-US tensions.

Pompeo said on Sunday that “enormous evidence” showed that the virus originated in a laboratory in China, doubling previous claims that have been repeatedly rejected by the WHO and various scientific experts.

– AFP


Italy begins to emerge from the world’s longest running of the bulls

Italians crazy about the turmoil were free to walk and visit relatives for the first time in nine weeks on Monday, as Europe’s hardest hit country cut the world’s longest coronavirus blockade.

More than four million people, about 72% of them men, returned to their construction sites and factories when the country, economically and emotionally devastated, tried to return to work.

– AFP

Chaos outside liquor stores as India eases virus blockade

Police used batons on Monday to beat thirsty Indians struggling to buy alcohol for the first time in 40 days as the government further eased the world’s largest coronavirus blockade.

Officials had painstakingly drawn chalk circles for alcoholic drinkers to stand up, but social distancing efforts were thwarted as people gathered from early morning.

– AFP

Trudeau is unsure whether his children would return to school in the hardest-hit Quebec

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he did not know if he would send his children to school in the province most affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Quebec has seen more than half of the country’s 60,000 Covid-19 cases and almost 60% of Canada’s 3,700 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University figures.

– AFP

Mexico reports a jump in coronavirus infections, according to the model

Mexico reported a five-fold increase in the number of coronavirus infections, bringing the nation’s total to nearly 130,000, according to an epidemiological surveillance model used by the government.

The country has officially reported 23,471 cases of Covid-19 and more than 2,154 deaths from the virus, according to the Johns Hopkins count, but data from Sentinel Surveillance, a monitoring system of the World Health Organization in use in Mexico since 2006, they estimate that the country has up to 128,033 Covid-19 infections.

– AFP


Mandatory masks on Spain’s public transport as relaxation begins

The masks became mandatory on public transport on Monday when Spain took its tentative first steps toward a commercial reopening with small companies accepting clients by appointment and restaurants.

The daily death rate has been declining steadily, with the country counting another 164 deaths in 24 hours on Monday, a number identical to Sunday, which was the lowest figure in nearly seven weeks.

– AFP

Hong Kong’s economy suffers a record contraction

Hong Kong suffered its worst quarterly contraction since modern records began when the coronavirus outbreak hit an economy already mired in recession from political unrest and the problems of the trade war.

The financial center is now experiencing its third consecutive quarter of negative growth, its longest financial recession since the aftermath of the 2008 global financial collapse.

– AFP


Greece unveils evidence of mobile viruses as economy reopens

On Monday, Greece began rolling out mobile teams to power coronavirus testing as the blocking restrictions were gradually eased, starting with small businesses.

Government spokesman Stelios Petsas said the first 25 teams, which will eventually grow to 500, will prioritize testing in vulnerable, closed facilities, such as prisons and nursing homes.

– AFP




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