Health News at Your Fingertips

The US has just passed a grim milestone, with Johns Hopkins University data showing the country has recorded more than five million cases of Covid-19. More than 162,000 people have died.

The US has more cases than any other country in the world, by a huge margin. The second highest number of cases is in Brazil, which has 2.96m cases so far, followed by India and Russia.

You can get live coverage on the pandemic in the US on our designated US live blog here.

This piece by Ed Pilkington offers an in-depth look at how a world superpower ended up in this position.

Seven months into the pandemic, the full horror of a deadly disease allowed to run amok by state governors and a US president who has consistently downplayed the severity of the crisis, denied the science and deflected attention from the failures of his own administration is now glaringly evident. The virus has taken hold of the south and is making its way steadily up the Mississippi River into the heartlands of America.

As the virus spreads, the many discrete problems that it has exposed in earlier stages of the pandemic are now congealing into one epic challenge.

Read the full report here:

The death toll from a fire at a coronavirus treatment quarantine facility in India has increased to 10.

The fire broke out at the facility in the southeastern Indian city of Vijaywada early on Sunday, officials said. The death toll was originally reported as being 7.

Emergency crews rescued up to 20 patients and medical staff from the centre housed in a hotel and took them to hospital, police commissioner B Srinivasulu told journalists at the scene.

Initial reports suggest the fire was caused by a short circuit in the centre, police and fire officials said.

Television footage showed rescuers, clad in face masks and full body suits, removing survivors from the blackened building on trolleys. Lakshmi, a constable at the police control room, said that “several people who were trapped and injured have been rescued and moved to a government hospital”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter he felt “anguished” and had discussed the situation with the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Jagan Mohan Reddy. Reddy said the state would pay each of the victim’s families 5 million rupees (around £51,000).

Last week, eight coronavirus patients died in a fire that broke out in the intensive care ward of a private hospital in India’s western city of Ahmedabad.

A further 10 people who have died in hospital in England, having either tested positive for coronavirus, or in cases where a positive test was not returned, but coronavirus was mentioned on their death certificate.

This brings the total number of confirmed deaths in hospitals to 29,411, NHS England said on Sunday.

The patients were aged between 45 and 89 and all had known underlying health condition

In two of the cases, the deceased had not tested positive for Covid-19, but Covid-19 was mentioned on their death certificate.

All deaths are recorded against the date of death rather than the day the deaths were announced, NHS England said.

Regional breakdown

The region with the highest number of deaths was the Midlands with four.

There were three deaths in the North East & Yorkshire, two in the East of England and one in London.

There were no deaths reported in the North West, where local lockdown measures in place in Greater Manchester and parts of east Lancashire were extended on Friday to include Preston.

In Wales, there have been no further deaths recorded where people died after testing positive for Covid-19, Public Health Wales said.

This means the total death toll remains at 1,579.

The number of cases in Wales increased by 26, bringing the total confirmed to 17,451.

In Berlin, artists are demonstrating to demand more financial support to survive the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Artists performed on the streets of Berlin as part of the protests calling for more support from the authorities.

Katharina Micada, one of the organisers, told a local newspaper before the protest: “Other people are getting help to get through this crisis but we’re being overlooked.”

Many are angry because large parts of a billion-euro aid programme have not yet been distributed and rules surrounding state handouts have made it harder for artists to qualify.

Juggler Fabio Zimmerman told Berliner Kurier: “Art is not seen as essential. Berlin’s diverse cultural scene is a jewel but in a crisis, the jewels are first to get sold.”

In England, Hays Travel, the holidays agency that took over Thomas Cook last year, has customer service centre staff working on the government’s Covid-19 contact-tracing operation, the Observer and openDemocracy can reveal.

The Sunderland-based company, owned and run by the married couple John and Irene Hays, pitched for work on the coronavirus response in March, a spokeswoman confirmed, as the virus was spreading and the travel industry was plunged into crisis. The spokeswoman said that Hays Travel does not have a contract directly with the government, but has been subcontracted by two providers, whom she said the company could not name due to client confidentiality.

Serco, the logistics company believed to have the largest private contract with the government for Covid-19 contact tracing, confirmed that it has subcontracted Hays Travel to do some of the work, and more companies from the travel sector and other industries.

You can read the full story here:

The news follows widespread critique of the current track and trace system, as evidence of widespread inactivity amongst tracers surfaces.

You can read more on that in this piece from Sarah Marsh and I, which showed that some tracers had not made a single call in ten weeks of work:

Pope Francis has urged international solidarity with Lebanon, following the explosion that devastated the capital of Beirut this week.

“Last Tuesday’s catastrophe calls on all of us, starting with the Lebanese people, to work together for the common good of this beloved country,” he said. He also called on church leaders in Lebanon to lead by example.

The church in Lebanon should stay close to the people in their hour of need, with “solidarity and compassion”, he said, speaking after weekly prayers in Saint Peter’s Square.

“I also renew my appeal for generous help from the international community.

His words came as French President Emmanuel Macron hosts a UN-backed virtual conference with world leaders including Donald Trump to generate support and financial aid for Lebanon in the wake of the blast.

Vietnam’s health ministry has recorded a further 31 cases of coronavirus, and one further death.

This takes the country’s total number of cases to 841, with 11 fatalities.

All of the new cases are linked to the central city of Danang, where the new outbreak began late last month, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. There have been 355 cases since the virus resurfaced in Danang, with 11 deaths.

Coronavirus infections have since been detected in at least 15 locations in Vietnam.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a summary of some of the key developments over the last few hours.

• The US health secretary has arrived in Taiwan to strengthen the ties between the two countries over their response to the coronavirus pandemic. The trip has been strongly condemned by China who claim Taiwan belongs to them.

• Lebanon’s Information Minister, Manal Abdel Samad, has announced her resignation, citing the government’s failure to introduce reforms, and the enormous explosion that devastated Beirut this week. Meanwhile, French president Emmanuel Macron will host political leaders today for a UN-backed video conference to raise emergency relief funds for Lebanon, following the devastating explosion in Beirut this week. The country was already struggling with mounting numbers of coronavirus cases, amid economic and political turmoil.

The Philippines has recorded 61 new deaths from coronavirus, the highest daily increase in fatalities reported for three weeks.

This takes the country’s death toll to 2,270.

A health ministry bulletin also reported 3,109 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total confirmed cases to 129,913.

The Southeast Asian country leads the region in the most number of cases and is second to Indonesia in deaths.

“On Saturday the official death toll hit 100,000 – up from 10,000 in early May. A similar number of lives were lost during Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war or the ongoing conflict in Yemen. Brazil has recorded more than 3m infections – second only to the US.

“We failed – as a country, as a government, as a society – to get the message out in a clear, transparent and educative way,” scientist Natalia Pasternak admitted.”

Read more about Brazil’s Covid-19 deaths reaching 100,000 from the perspective one scientist, who made it her mission to reduce the spread of the virus, in this piece from Tom Phillips, our Latin American correspondent:

North Korea’s ruling party has delivered aid packages of food and medical supplies to residents of Kaesong, close to the border with the South, after imposing a lockdown there due to coronavirus concerns, state media reports.

Last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared an emergency and imposed a lockdown on the small border town after a 24 year old, who defected to South Korea in 2017, returned to Kaesong across the highly fortified border showing coronavirus symptoms.

Seoul officials said the individual returned to the North after facing a sexual assault investigation in the South. South Korean health officials said there was no sign he was infected before he crossed the border, and at least two people who were in close contact with him have tested negative.

Pyongyang has not confirmed any coronavirus infections but has been taking strict quarantine measures and screening the town, while providing food, test kits and other medical equipment, according to state media. State television on Sunday showed a train arriving at the Kaesong station and trucks delivering supplies to residents.