US, Brazil, India push Covid cases past 22mn mark

LONDON/GENEVA: The total number of coronavirus infections globally has crossed 22 million, with the US, Brazil and India accounting for more than half the total. The number of fatalities from Covid-19 has gone past 782,000.

The UK, which has recorded the highest death toll in Europe, is looking at testing people for the disease at airports. But Britain is unlikely to follow France in ordering people to wear face coverings at work because its test and trace scheme shows most people are catching the virus in house-to-house transmission, health secretary Matt Hancock said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a study by experts at the University of Oxford and Manchester found that a “pressure cooker” environment in British homes during lockdown has seen a “significant” rise in children and adolescents attacking parents in already volatile households.

Elsewhere, Iran surpassed 20,000 confirmed deaths from the disease on Wednesday, the health ministry said. It’s the highest death toll for any West Asian country so far in the pandemic.

A New Zealand court on Wednesday found the first nine days of a hard lockdown put in place by the government in March-April requiring people to isolate at home was justified, but unlawful.

Australia has announced a deal to manufacture a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZenec. “Every single Australian will be able to receive the Oxford University vaccine for free, should trials prove successful, safe and effective,” PM Scott Morrison said.