The Latest: Spain wants UK to list some areas as virus safe - Press Herald

The latest on the coronavirus pandemic from around the U.S. and the world.

MADRID — Spain is trying to persuade the British government to put some Spanish regions on its safe travel list.

Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya says the U.K. decision last weekend to require people arriving from Spain to self-isolate for 14 days was based on Spain’s recent national surge in coronavirus cases.

González Laya told Radio Euskadi in an interview Thursday that some Spanish regions are not badly affected, and suggested Britain could allow “travel corridors” between those regions and the U.K.

Spain on Wednesday reported the highest daily number of new coronavirus infections in almost three months, with 1,153.

But the Balearic Islands, including vacation hotspots such as Ibiza and Mallorca, had just one new case while the Canary Islands, another popular destination for British tourists, had only seven.

Spain is the top holiday destination for British tourists, with around 18 million people heading there last year, and their absence is a heavy blow to Spain’s key tourism industry.

Trump scorns giving help to cities, as virus aid talks hit stalemate

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday dismissed Democratic demands for aid to cash-strapped cities in a new coronavirus relief package and lashed out at Republican allies as talks stalemated over assistance for millions of Americans. Another lawmaker tested positive for the virus.

Donald Trump, Steven Mnuchin, Mark Meadows

President Trump, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows talk before Trump speaks with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on Wednesday in Washington. Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Republicans, beset by delays and infighting, signaled a willingness to swiftly approve a modest package to revamp a $600 weekly unemployment benefit that’s running out. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., roundly rejected that approach as meager, all but forcing Republicans back to the negotiating table. Without action, the aid expires Friday.

“We’re nowhere close to the deal,” said White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. He said they’re “miles apart.”

Stark differences remain between the $3 trillion proposal from Democrats and $1 trillion counter from Republicans, a standoff that is testing Trump and Congress ahead of the November election and putting aid for communities nationwide at risk.

Pelosi said the best way to reopen schools and the economy is to defeat the virus, and that can’t be done with the “skinny” bill Republicans are rushing to cobble together. “They still don’t get it,” Pelosi said.

The virus toll continued to mount in the U.S., with 4.4 million confirmed cases and deaths passing 150,000. Outspoken Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, who often objects to mask-wearing, became the latest lawmaker at the Capitol to test positive for the virus.

Money for states and cites is a crucial dividing line as local governments plead for help to shore up budgets and prevent deeper layoffs as they incur COVID-19 costs and lost tax revenue in shutdown economies.

Trump complained about sending “big bailout money” to the nation’s cities, whose mayors he often criticizes.

“It’s a shame to reward badly run radical left Democrats with all of this money they’re looking for,” he said at the White House.

Democrats proposed nearly $1 trillion for the local governments, but Trump and Republicans are resisting sending the states and cities more cash.

Instead, the GOP offers states flexibility to use $150 billion previously allotted for the virus on other needs. At one point this year, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said states could just declare bankruptcy.

Read more on the impasse here.

Virus misinformation is highly contagious, as U.S. hits 150,000 deaths

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — As the world races to find a vaccine and a treatment for COVID-19, there is seemingly no antidote in sight for the burgeoning outbreak of coronavirus conspiracy theories, hoaxes, anti-mask myths and sham cures.

The phenomenon, unfolding largely on social media, escalated this week when President Donald Trump retweeted a false video about an anti-malaria drug being a cure for the virus and it was revealed that Russian intelligence is spreading disinformation about the crisis through English-language websites.

Experts worry the torrent of bad information is dangerously undermining efforts to slow the virus, whose death toll in the U.S. hit 150,000 Wednesday, by far the highest in the world, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. Over a half-million people have died in the rest of the world.

Hard-hit Florida reported 216 deaths, breaking the single-day record it set a day earlier. And South Carolina’s death toll passed 1,500 this week, more than doubling over the past month.

“It is a real challenge in terms of trying to get the message to the public about what they can really do to protect themselves and what the facts are behind the problem., said Michael Osterholm, head of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.

He said the fear is that “people are putting themselves in harm’s way because they don’t believe the virus is something they have to deal with.”

Rather than fade away in the face of new evidence, the claims have flourished, fed by mixed messages from officials, transmitted by social media, amplified by leaders like Trump and mutating when confronted with contradictory facts.

“You don’t need masks. There is a cure,” Dr. Stella Immanuel promised in a video that promoted hydroxychloroquine. “You don’t need people to be locked down.”

The truth: Federal regulators last month revoked their authorization of the drug as an emergency treatment amid growing evidence it doesn’t work and can have deadly side effects. Even if it were effective, it wouldn’t negate the need for masks and other measures to contain the outbreak.

None of that stopped Trump, who has repeatedly praised the drug, from retweeting the video. Twitter and Facebook began removing the video on Monday for violating policies on COVID-19 misinformation, but it had already been seen more than 20 million times.

Many of the claims in Immanuel’s video are widely disputed by medical experts. She has made even more bizarre pronouncements in the past, saying that cysts, fibroids and some other conditions can be caused by having sex with demons, that McDonald’s and Pokemon promote witchcraft, that alien DNA is used in medical treatments, and that half-human “reptilians” work in the government.

Read the full story here.

House virus oversight panel demands documents from 4 states

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The head of a congressional coronavirus oversight panel on Wednesday demanded Tennessee’s Gov. Bill Lee and three other Republican governors provide documents showing how their states are combating the pandemic.

“I am writing to request information about the private guidance the Administration has provided to Tennessee and whether you plan to implement those recommendations and take other critical actions to slow the spread of the coronavirus across the state,” wrote South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, a Democrat and chairman of the House Oversight and Reform subcommittee.

Similar letters were sent to governors Brian Kemp of Georgia, Ron DeSantis of Florida and Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, according to the subcommittee’s spokeswoman.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee answers questions during a news conference Wednesday, July 1 in Nashville, Tenn. AP Photo/Mark Humphrey

Clyburn’s request comes days after White House coronavirus task force leader Dr. Deborah Birx traveled to Nashville to implore leaders to close bars and residents to wear masks. However, Lee has rebuffed calls to roll back the state’s reopening efforts and refused to issue a statewide mask mandate even as virus case numbers and hospitalizations continue to rise statewide.

According to the letter, Tennessee is failing to follow at least five different recommendations provided by the White House Coronavirus Task Force — ranging from failing to adopt a statewide mask mandate, allowing indoor dining without strict restrictions and permitting gyms to remain open without limitations in counties with high virus numbers.

“The Task Force report privately recommended that Tennessee implement these health measures to help reverse the dangerous spike in cases across the state and to prevent unnecessary deaths,” Clyburn wrote. “Failure to comply is allowing the virus to spread, prolonging and exacerbating the public health crisis facing the state.”

Lee’s office did not immediately return a request for comment. The office of the Florida governor confirmed the receipt of the letter but did not have an immediate reaction. There was no immediate response from the other governors.

In Georgia, Clyburn noted six recommendations which he said the state was not following. The letter said the state was not only failing to implement a statewide mask mandate but also noted Kemp had filed a lawsuit against Atlanta officials to prevent a mask requirement. Kemp and Atlanta officials are now in mediation.

According to the letter sent to Stitt, Oklahoma is not following five recommendations from the White House task force. The 12-member House Oversight panel, with a 7-5 Democratic majority, has the power to subpoena Trump administration officials and conduct depositions.

“You made clear on July 15 that you have no plans to roll back the state’s reopening or impose a statewide mask requirement,” Clyburn wrote.

Each state was asked to provide guidance documents and public health recommendations on how to stop the spread of the virus provided by the White House task force; detailed description on any public health measures rescinded or implemented after receiving the task force guidance; and any plans on how to control the spread of the coronavirus.

The four states have until Aug. 12 to respond.

South Africa virus cases top 471,000

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s confirmed coronavirus cases are now above 471,000 as the country with the world’s fifth-largest confirmed caseload makes up well over half the recorded infections on the African continent.

Africa’s 54 countries have a total of more than 891,000 cases as local transmission of the virus is underway in many countries. Severe testing shortages mean the real number of cases is likely much higher. South Africa is also seeing far more “excess deaths” than in recent years.

A new report by the South African Medical Research Council shows more than 22,000 excess deaths from natural causes between May 6 and July 21. Those could be unrecorded COVID-19 deaths or deaths from other diseases as some South Africans, scared by the pandemic, hesitate to seek care. Strained health resources are also being redirected to fighting COVID-19.

China steps up testing as outbreaks occur

BEIJING — China is stepping-up testing for the coronavirus in an attempt to get a handle on new outbreaks that have defied the country’s considerable success in containing the virus that was first detected in Wuhan late last year.

In the northeastern city of Dalian, local authorities have issued a letter to citizens urging all 5.6 million of them to be tested following consecutive days of new cases being reported, largely in the single digits.

As of midnight Wednesday, samples had been collected from more than 4 million people in the scenic port city in Liaoning province and a second round of tests was being launched targeting people living in what have been categorized as high-risk areas.

Victoria, Australia makes masks mandatory

MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia’s coronavirus hot spot of Victoria state is making mask wearing compulsory statewide after reporting a new daily high of 723 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Masks have been compulsory in the state capital of Melbourne and a neighboring semi-rural district for the past week. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said Thursday that masks or other face coverings will be compulsory for the whole state beginning late Sunday.

In addition, residents around the city of Geelong will not be allowed to have visitors in their homes beginning late Thursday.

The 723 new cases exceeded the previous high of 532 cases posted Monday. The state also reported a new daily high of 13 deaths.

Melbourne and neighboring Mitchell Shire are halfway through a six-week lockdown, which Andrews says could be extended.

China battles new confirmed cases

BEIJING — China is reporting 105 more confirmed cases of COVID-19, almost all of them in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

Xinjiang accounted for 96 of the cases, with five others in the northeastern province of Liaoning and one in the capital of Beijing.The remaining three were brought by Chinese travelers arriving rom outside the country.

No new deaths were reported, leaving China’s official toll for the pandemic at 4,634, among 84,165 cases.

While China has largely contained the virus in other parts of the country, the Xinjiang outbreak centered on the regional capital and largest city of Urumqi continues to grow. Authorities have locked down some residential neighborhoods in the city, restricted public transit and ordered widespread testing.

Invalid username/password.

Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

« Previous

John Lewis’ funeral set for Atlanta church that MLK once led

filed under: