EU reopens its borders to 15 countries; US cases surge
The European Union reopened its borders on Wednesday to visitors from 15 countries but excluded the United States, where coronavirus deaths are spiking once again, six months after the first cluster was reported in China.
The final list of nations safe enough to allow residents to enter the EU did not include Russia, Brazil or the US, where the daily death toll passed 1,000 on Tuesday for the first time since June 10.
US infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci said the United States was heading in the “wrong direction” and warned it could see 100,000 cases a day if the current trend continued.
Several US states imposed 14-day quarantines on travellers from other states.
The EU hopes relaxing restrictions on countries from Algeria to Uruguay will breathe life into its tourism sector, which has been choked by a ban on non-essential travel since mid-march.
However, with over 10 million known infections worldwide and more than 500,000 deaths, the pandemic is “not even close to being over”, the World Health Organization has warned.
In UAE, the Health Ministry announced that it conducted 62,028 new COVID-19 tests, which revealed 402 new cases of infections.
This brings the total number of coronavirus cases recorded in the country to 49,069.
Total number of deaths due to COVID-19 in the country reached to 316 on Wednesday after the announcement of one more death.
Ministry announced the recovery of 594 patients after treatment, bringing the total number of recoveries in the country to 38,160.
Dr Amna Al Shamsi, spokesperson for UAE government, said that the number of COVID-19 tests in the UAE exceeded the barrier of 3.5 million tests nationwide.
“All countries of the world still evaluate health conditions. We are following the situation closely and evaluate the procedures continuously in cooperation with the national carriers to determine the destinations allowed to travel to, as most of them are still closed to its airspace,” said Dr Saif Al Dhaheri, National Crisis Emergency Management Authority’s (NCEMA) spokesperson.
“Every citizen and resident intending to travel must submit an application through the http:// smartservices.ica.gov.ae of the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship.”
“Travel for leisure or tourism will not be permitted in the current period, as it will be determined for specific reasons and categories that have been identified and based on the level of risk and health status in other countries.
“The categories and cases permitted for travel are for study, medical treatment, diplomatic mission, the official mission of government and private sector employees.”
On Wednesday, the faithful thronged mosques and places of worship across the UAE after the authorities opened it with strict guidelines and measures.
Videos showed residents attending the morning and afternoon prayers with social distancing.
The decision was taken to restore normalcy in lives of residents after months of restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.
Sharjah residents gathered at the mosques designated for prayers after the restrictions were lifted on Wednesday.
In Dubai, the Al-rashidiya Grand Mosque received worshippers during the noon prayers with precautionary measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
India has entered July and Unlock 2 with close to 600,000 Covid-19 cases. A spike of 18,653 cases has taken the total cases to 5,85,493 as of Wednesday morning. Tuesday was also the day that saw the highest number of deaths at 507; India’s Covid-19 death toll has hit 17,400.
Ministry of Health figures show that India piled up over 200,000 cases in the last 12 days of June.
In Indian state of Bihar, more than 100 people have tested positive for coronavirus after attending the wedding — and then funeral — of the groom, who reportedly tied the knot while ill with the disease.
In Pakistan, the number of people who have recovered from the coronavirus in Pakistan has surpassed 100,000, about 50% of total infections.
Authorities will lock down more than 300,000 people in suburbs north of Melbourne for a month from late on Wednesday to contain the risk of infection after two weeks of double-digit rises in new coronavirus cases in Australia’s second most populous state.
UAE reports 402 new cases, 594 recoveries, a death; faithful throng mosques; travel approval a must for UAE citizens, residents; India records 600,000 virus cases; Pak recovery stands at 50%; Melbourne to lock down over 300,000 people.