Health News at Your Fingertips

Charlotte Graham-McLay reports for the Guardian:

International arrivals to New Zealand in May fell to their lowest in 61 years as stringent border restrictions that bar anyone except New Zealanders, their families, and certain essential workers from entering the country took hold.

There were 5,600 arrivals to New Zealand in May, according to the country’s statistics agency, compared to nearly 1m last May.

It’s the lowest number since May 1959, when 4,700 people arrived in New Zealand.
May was the second month of New Zealand’s border closure, which was implemented to quell the spread of Covid-19. The country has no known community transmission and 25 active cases – all of them returning travellers in government-managed quarantine.

No one is in hospital with the virus. There have been 1,195 total confirmed cases of the coronavirus in New Zealand, with 22 deaths.

China reported on Tuesday five new coronavirus cases in the mainland for 13 July, compared with eight cases a day earlier, the health authority said.

All of the new infections were imported cases, the National Health Commission said in a statement. There were no new deaths.

China also reported five new asymptomatic patients, down from six a day earlier. As of 13 July, mainland China had a total of 83,605 confirmed coronavirus cases, it said.

China’s death toll from the coronavirus remained unchanged at 4,634.

Delta Air Lines may be able to avoid involuntary furloughs in the fall after receiving interest from more than 15,000 employees for early exit deals, one person with knowledge of the matter said.

The person said Delta was also looking at extending reduced work hours for employees past September in an effort to save costs as the coronavirus pandemic continues to whip the airline industry.

Delta declined to comment.

Hong Kong Disneyland is closing temporarily following the city’s decision to ban public gatherings of more than four people because of the pandemic.

Disney officials posted on the resort’s website that the Hong Kong park was closing on Wednesday until further notice. The resort’s hotels will remain open with adjusted levels of service.

Hong Kong announced new coronavirus-related restrictions on Monday.

The Hong Kong park and Shanghai Disneyland closed in January. Tokyo Disneyland closed the following month and Disney parks in the United States and Europe shut their doors in March.

Shanghai Disneyland reopened in May, as did Hong Kong Disneyland Park last month.

Two of Walt Disney World’s theme parks in Florida reopened last Saturday, despite a spike in coronavirus cases in Florida.

Disneyland Paris also is welcoming back visitors this week for the first time since March. The reopening of Disney’s California parks was postponed pending the issuance of state guidelines.

The New York Times reports that, “about 5.4 million Americans lost health insurance in the pandemic, more than have ever lost coverage through job losses in a year,” according to a new study:

The study, to be released Tuesday by the nonpartisan consumer advocacy group Families USA, found that the estimated increase in uninsured laid-off workers over the three-month period was nearly 40% higher than the highest previous increase, which occurred during the recession of 2008 and 2009. In that period, 3.9 million adults lost insurance.

The WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that there would be “no return to the old normal for the foreseeable future”, adding: “There are no short cuts out of this pandemic.”

Speaking critically of leaders in countries where “mixed messages” have led to a breakdown in trust, he said that if this approach is taken, matters are going to get “worse and worse”.

“I know that many leaders are working in difficult circumstances”, he said, but that nonetheless, “There are no short cuts out of this pandemic,” he adds.

There are more than 13 million coronavirus cases worldwide, an increase of 1m cases in 5 days, Johns Hopkins University data show.

The current total is 13,026,225. There have been 570,924 known deaths so far.

Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.

A reminder that you can get in touch throughout the day on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.

As global cases passed 13 million, rising by 1m in just five days – compared to the 1m per week for the last few weeks – WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that there would be “no return to the old normal for the foreseeable future”, warning that “There are no short cuts out of this pandemic.”

A number of countries, cities and regions have seen lockdown or social distancing measures reimposed. Hong Kong reimposed social distancing measures after a sudden spike in coronavirus infections, banning public gatherings of more than four people. In the US state of California governor Gavin Newsom ordering bars to close and banning indoor restaurant dining, among other measures.

About 250,000 people in Manila in the Philippines will return to lockdown in an attempt to stall the infection rate there.

Here is a roundup of the key developments from the last few hours:

• There are more than 13 million coronavirus cases worldwide, an increase of 1m cases in 5 days, Johns Hopkins University data show. The current total is 13,026,225. There have been 570,924 known deaths so far.
  
• The WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that there would be “no return to the old normal for the foreseeable future”, adding: “There are no short cuts out of this pandemic.”
• China has stepped up a travel warning to Australia, telling its citizens of a risk of being searched “arbitrarily” by law enforcement authorities. Apart from warning of discrimination recently, China’s culture and tourism ministry advised against travelling to Australia last month due to increasing racism linked to the virus.
• More than 880 employees of private contractors running US immigration detention centres have tested positive for coronavirus, according to congressional testimony given by company executives.
• An entire hospital in Mexico’s southern Oaxaca state has been put in quarantine after 68% of its remaining staff tested positive for Covid-19. Doctors and nurses at the Macedonio Benítez Fuentes hospital in the town of Juchitán de Zaragoza held protests last week, calling for a lockdown after 120 of their colleagues were put under isolation after positive tests.
• Face masks will become mandatory in shops across England, UK government ministers are to announce on Tuesday, following mixed messages, a cabinet split and mounting pressure on the country’s prime minister Boris Johnson to change public advice.
• Hong Kong reimposed social distancing measures after a sudden spike in coronavirus infections, banning public gatherings of more than four people.
• The US state of California did similar, closing down many businesses recently allowed to reopen. Its governor Gavin Newsom ordered bars to close and banned indoor restaurant dining, among other measures.
• A new UN report said that coronavirus could mean an additional 130m people going hungry this year. It added that “after steadily declining for decades, chronic hunger slowly began to rise in 2014 and continues to do so”.
• Angela Merkel warned that a special EU summit might not be able to agree a deal on a coronavirus recovery fund, with some countries nervous that the €750bn proposals were too extravagant.
• The death toll in Latin America has reached 144,758, taking it past that in the US and Canada, and leaving the region second only to Europe. A Reuters tally meanwhile found that the global number of infections has risen by 1m in five days.
• In the US, the Trump administration came under fire for its apparent attempt to sideline infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci for disagreeing with the president.
• About 250,000 people in Manila will return to lockdown in an attempt to stall the infection rate there. The Philippines has the second highest number of infections in south-east Asia.