The coronavirus appears to be accelerating in countries around the world with Australia as the latest to announce a record number of daily cases: 723.
The two most affected countries in the world, the United States and Brazil, have also reported new highs in deaths and cases of coronavirus. In the U.S., the death toll exceeded 150,000, with Florida, California, and Texas among several states that reported record daily deaths.
More than 16.8 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus. Some 9.9 million patients have recovered and nearly 663,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Here are the latest updates:
Thursday, July 30
03:30 GMT – ‘Today is not a good day’: Australia reports several cases
Australia has reported the highest number of confirmed cases since the coronavirus pandemic began.
The state of Victoria is hardest hit by outbreaks centered on nursing homes and workplaces in Melbourne and its sprawling suburbs.
State authorities reported 723 new cases on Thursday and 13 deaths.
“Today is not a good day,” said Victoria’s state prime minister Dan Andrews in a statement.
He noted that while the majority of cases in the state were in Melbourne and the suburbs, there was a “significant jump” in cases in regional communities, justifying additional measures to curb the spread of the disease.
The mandatory use of masks has spread throughout the state since Sunday, and in some areas residents will not be allowed to go to other people’s homes or receive visitors in their own home.
Declaration of the Premier on the changes in the regional victory.
An accessible version of this statement will be available shortly at https://t.co/l9uPOBKGdq pic.twitter.com/3owwkd6Lx2
– Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) July 30, 2020
Internal borders have been closed to help curb the spread of the virus beyond Victoria. The northeast state of Queensland previously announced three new cases: Two of the people are believed to have been exposed to the virus in Sydney.
03:20 GMT – PNG coronavirus situation worsens
An Australian emergency medical team has been deployed to Papua New Guinea, where the outbreak has deteriorated in recent days.
The AFP news agency says the country’s pandemic response center closed yesterday after a senior adviser was diagnosed with the virus, and the health minister is also being examined.
The situation in Papua New Guinea is tense. Growing cases, testing + treatment near capacity. Yesterday, the COVID-19 crisis response center closed after a senior health consultant tested positive. Around 100 people are being evaluated, including the Minister of Health, Jelta Wong, https://t.co/3CYpJ9z2FA
– Andrew Beatty (@AndrewBeatty) July 30, 2020
02:50 GMT – China expert says virus thrives in cooler, wetter environments
China’s top epidemiologist has been speaking to state media.
Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told local journalists that the virus appears to have cooler and wetter environments.
He noted the country’s COVID-19 outbreaks, from the original source in Wuhan, to Beijing and Dalian, dating back to seafood markets or seafood companies.
China’s leading epidemiologist believes the virus likes the kind of cool, wet environment associated with seafood markets [Stringer/EPA]
02:40 GMT – Talks about the latest US coronavirus relief package stalled as the clock ticked
Talks between the leaders of the United States Congress and the White House about an upcoming round of spending on coronaviruses appear to have stalled as the clock ticks measures that banned evictions and increased unemployment benefit payments.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested a short-term extension for those programs, but Democrats rejected the idea.
Al Jazeera’s William Roberts has been following the negotiations. You can read his story here.
02:10 GMT – Pelosi to the United States Congress: Mask!
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi says members and staff of the House of Representatives must wear masks while the coronavirus pandemic continues.
The move came after Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert, who refused to wear a mask, revealed that he had tested positive for COVID-19, prompting at least three of his colleagues to say they would be quarantined.
Pelosi warned that he had the authority to ask the House sergeant-at-arms to remove a member from the floor for violating decorum, and “the chair considers not wearing a mask as a serious violation of decorum.”
Members will be able to remove the masks when they go to the camera.
You can read more about Gohmert’s diagnosis here.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the masks should be worn in Congress and can only be removed when a member addresses the House [File: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]
01:50 GMT – Guatemala buries dozens of unidentified COVID-19 deaths
Guatemalan hospital officials say they have had to bury dozens of COVID-19 victims who have never been identified, according to the AP news agency.
The agency says workers at one of the country’s largest public hospitals have begun photographing patients who arrive alone and are too ill to give their personal details. Those who die without being identified are placed in body bags with transparent windows on their faces in case relatives come looking for them.
Authorities say protocols to quickly bury the dead during a pandemic only make the situation more difficult.
Guatemala has confirmed more than 47,000 confirmed infections and more than 1,800 deaths across the country.
01:35 GMT – The United States registers a death by coronavirus every minute, since the total exceeds 150,000
Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) leave with a patient at Hialeah Hospital in Florida, one of the states with the highest number of cases and deaths. [Marco Bello/Reuters]
One person in the United States died approximately every minute from COVID-19, as the national death toll exceeded 150,000, the highest in the world, according to Reuters.
US coronavirus deaths are increasing at their fastest rate in two months and have increased by 10,000 in the past 11 days.
01:20 GMT – Mainland China reports 105 new cases of COVID-19, including 96 in Xinjiang
China has reported 105 new cases of coronavirus on the continent, compared to 101 cases the previous day.
The National Health Commission says 96 of the new cases were confirmed in western Xinjiang region, while five were in northeast Liaoning province, one in Beijing and three imported cases.
As of Wednesday, mainland China had 84,165 confirmed cases of coronavirus, the health authority said Thursday. The COVID-19 death toll remained at 4,634 [Mark Schiefelbein/AP]
00:45 GMT – The Vietnam outbreak that started in Danang continues to grow
The Vietnam Health Ministry has reported nine additional cases of coronavirus, as an outbreak that started in the popular resort town of Danang continues to expand.
Reuters says some 81,000 people are now quarantined as a result of the outbreak, which has spread to six cities and provinces in six days.
Reuters: Vietnam’s Ministry of Health reports nine other local cases of COVID-19 related to the Danang virus outbreak
– James Pearson (@pearswick) July 30, 2020
Scott Heidler of Al Jazeera has also presented this report on the situation in Vietnam.
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COVID-19 spreads in Vietnam after an outbreak in a tourist spot |
00:15 GMT – The Australian state of Victoria will report more than 700 cases, 13 deaths
Local media in Australia report that the state of Victoria, the epicenter of a new wave of coronavirus in the country, will report more than 700 cases and 13 deaths on Thursday morning.
I’m sorry to say I’ve heard similar things
Today’s # COVID19Vic number could be as high as 723
With such a high number (and 1 in 6 cases active in the elder care sector), this could be a bleak day. #Stay safe
– Rafael Epstein (@Raf_Epstein) July 29, 2020
#BREAKING: There are reports that Victoria will announce more than 700 coronavirus cases and 13 deaths in the past 24 hours. # 9News pic.twitter.com/nlt2IfPQll
– Nine News Melbourne (@ 9NewsMelb) July 29, 2020
00:00 GMT – Brazil reports a record number of deaths from coronavirus, cases
The Brazilian Ministry of Health has just confirmed a record of 1,595 daily deaths from coronavirus. Taken weekly (7,677 this week), deaths are also at their highest point since the pandemic began.
Authorities also reported a record number of cases for a single day (69,074), in part as a result of working through an accumulation of previously unrecorded cases.
Despite the accelerated pandemic, President Jair Bolsonaro’s government moved to ease restrictions to boost the economy, and on Wednesday said it would lift the ban on foreign travelers to the country.
Travelers in a public transport center in Sao Paulo, one of the critical points of virus in Brazil [Fernando Bizerra/EPA]
Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continued coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. am Kate Mayberry in kuala lumpur
Read all the updates from yesterday (July 29) here.
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