Americas tormented, UK tense

Deaths top 100,000 in Latin America; globally 5mn people recover from Covid-19

WASHINGTON/ LONDON/ SAO PAULO:

As coronavirus cases surged across the US, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced they would quarantine people coming from the hardhit states for two weeks.

Cases shot up by 34,720 on Tuesday, taking the total to 2.34 million, and fatalities went up by 826 to 121,225. Twenty-six states, all in the south and the west, reported more cases last week than the one before.

While Covid-19 claimed over 480,000 lives globally and infected over 9.4mn people, more than 5mn people are now reported to have recovered from the illness.

The death toll from the pandemic in Latin America surpassed 100,000 on Tuesday. The number of infections in Latin America has doubled in less than a month and stood at 2.2 million.

In the UK, heads of top medical organisations have sent a letter to the British Medical Journal, warning that there is “a real risk” of a second wave of Covid-19, and demanded a review of the UK’s state of preparedness.

In South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, 204 students and staff who returned to a boarding school this month have tested positive for the coronavirus. The outbreak took place at Makaula Senior Secondary School in the town of KwaBhaca.

Croatian PM Andrej Plenkovic said he would not self-isolate following his brief encounter with tennis superstar Novak Djokovic, who tested positive on Tuesday.

Health officials maintained he did not have to self-isolate, saying the risk of infection was low as he briefly met Djokovic and was not in a close contact with him.