SYDNEY / LONDON (Reuters) – Asian nations imposed new restrictions on Monday, as an abrupt British quarantine on Spain’s travelers threw the reopening of Europe’s summer in disarray as the world faced the possibility of a second wave of infections. by COVID-19.
In the United States, where infection rates have increased since June, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’Brien became the highest-ranking official to test positive. The White House said Trump had not interacted with him in days and was not at risk.
Overvoltages were reported in several countries previously identified as places where the virus was under control.
Australia recorded a record daily increase. Vietnam closed the city of Danang, forcing tens of thousands of visitors to evacuate. Mainland China confirmed the most locally transmitted cases since early March. Papua New Guinea closed its borders.
Hong Kong banned gatherings of more than two people, closed dinner at restaurants, and made facial masks mandatory in public.
An increase in infections in Spain prompted Britain to order all travelers there to be quarantined for two weeks, in a stroke of months in preparation for the reopening of tourism in Europe.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said travel restrictions could not be the long-term answer, and that countries had to do more to stop the spread by adopting proven strategies such as social distancing and wearing masks.
“It will be almost impossible for individual countries to keep their borders closed for the foreseeable future. Economies have to open up, people have to work, trade has to resume, “said WHO emergency program director Mike Ryan.
“What is clear is that the pressure on the virus pushes the numbers down. Release that pressure and the cases will rise again.”
“SPAIN IS SAFE”
Officials in some of the European and Asian countries where the virus is spreading again say the new outbreaks will not be as severe as the original waves that hit earlier this year, and may contain themselves with local measures rather than nationwide shutdowns. .
Officials in Spain, where cases rose by 6,000 over the weekend, were stunned by Britain’s sudden quarantine move.
“Spain is safe, it is safe for Spaniards, it is safe for tourists,” Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya told reporters.
“It is not only unfair, but it is also completely illogical and lacks rigor,” said the main Spanish hotel association CEHAT, as the hotels offered to pay for tests for coronavirus.
The airlines and travel companies that weathered the first wave are now concerned that an aborted reopening could be fatal.
Europe’s largest airline Ryanair cut its annual passenger target by a quarter on Monday and warned that a second wave of COVID-19 infections could further reduce it.
Europe has yet to lift bans on travelers from many countries, including the United States, where Trump encouraged states in the spring to quickly reopen after a shutdown, and many are now establishing infection registries.
BASEBALL IN JEOPARDY
A pandemic-shortened American baseball season, launched last week in front of empty seats, suddenly appeared in jeopardy after 12 players and two Miami Marlins coaches tested positive on the road in Philadelphia. Monday’s games were canceled in both cities.
Florida in particular has been hit hard this month, with 10,000 new cases a day becoming the norm statewide. Hospitals have requested additional staff as workers get sick.
“In 10 years of medicine I never had to put another nurse on life support, I never had to worry about the death of my coworkers,” said Kevin Cho Tipton, a critical care nurse practitioner who works at one of the public hospitals largest in Miami. “It has been emotionally very challenging, physically very challenging.”
US federal unemployment unemployment benefits enacted in response to the pandemic expire this week. Republicans in Congress were expected to come up with a proposal Monday to extend them at a reduced rate, setting the stage for a showdown with Democrats seeking a more generous stimulus bill.
The Washington Post reported that the Republican plan would initially reduce the federal payment to unemployed workers by $ 400 per week. Reuters could not immediately confirm that report.
In China, which managed to silence local transmission through firm blockades after the virus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan late last year, a further surge has been fueled by infections in the western Xinjiang region.
In the northeast, Liaoning province reported a fifth consecutive day of new infections, and Jilin province reported two new cases, the first since late May.
Australian authorities who imposed a six-week lockdown in parts of the southeastern state of Victoria said it could last longer after the largest daily increase in infections in the country.
In Japan, the government said it would urge business leaders to increase anti-virus measures, such as staggered changes, and aimed to see telework rates at levels reached during a previous state of emergency.
Vietnam is evacuating 80,000 people, mostly local tourists, from Danang after three residents tested positive over the weekend. As of Saturday, Vietnam had not reported infections in the community since April.
Papua New Guinea halted entry for travelers beginning Monday, except for those who arrived by air, as it tightens restrictions on infections that have more than doubled over the past week.
Reports from Reuters offices; Written by Stephen Coates and Peter Graff; Nick Macfie, Philippa Fletcher and Gareth Jones edition
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