Latin America coronavirus death toll hits 200,000: Live updates

• The death toll in Latin America from the novel coronavirus has surpassed 200,000, a Reuters tally showed, after Peru reported another 191 deaths from the pandemic early on Sunday.

• South Africa has surpassed 500,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, representing more than 50 percent of all reported coronavirus infections in Africa’s 54 countries. It also reported more than 8,000 deaths.

• Thousands of demonstrators have gathered in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to demand the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his handling of the coronavirus emergency, and the alleged corruption in his government.

• More than 17.79 million people around the world have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus. Almost 10.5 million patients have recovered and more than 684,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Here are the latest updates:

Sunday, August 2

06:25 GMT – Philippines to update COVID-19 strategy

The Philippines’ health department vowed to update its game plan against COVID-19 within a week and sought to beef up the healthcare workforce in the capital Manila, where medical frontliners are calling for reviving strict lockdowns.

The Southeast Asian country on Saturday reported 4,963 additional coronavirus infections, the largest single-day jump on record, bringing its total confirmed cases to 98,232, while its death toll had climbed to 2,039.

It has the second-highest number of coronavirus infections and COVID-19 deaths in the region, behind Indonesia.

In the largest call yet from medical experts to contain the virus, 80 groups representing 80,000 doctors and a million nurses, on Saturday said the Philippines was losing the fight against the disease and warned of a collapse of the healthcare system from soaring infections without tighter controls.

06:00 GMT – India’s cases cross 1.75 million

India’s coronavirus caseload crosses 1.75 million with another spike of 54,735 in the past 24 hours.

The new cases are down from 57,118 on Saturday. The Health Ministry on Sunday also reported 853 deaths for a total of 37,364.

The month of July alone has accounted for more than 1.1 million cases in India.Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the case fatality rate was progressively reducing and currently stands at 2.18 percent, one of the lowest globally.

05:30 GMT – Australia’s Victoria imposes curfew to contain COVID-19

A state of disaster was declared in Australia’s Victoria, with the local government implementing a night curfew as part of its harshest movement restrictions to date to contain the coronavirus.

State Premier Daniel Andrews said that the new restrictions, to be in place for six weeks until mid-September, will allow only one person per household to go shopping once a day. Melbournians will not be able to go further than five kilometres (3 miles) from home.

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Hello, this is Umut Uras in Doha taking over from my colleague Ted Regencia.

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04:52 GMT – Australia’s Victoria declares state disaster over coronavirus

Australia’s state of Victoria has declared a state of disaster on Sunday, and announced a lockdown following a surge in the number of coronavirus cases.

A curfew has been issued in the city of Melbourne beginning at 8pm on Sunday night.

Residents of Melbourne are also ordered not to travel beyond five kilometres (3.1 miles) from their residence.

04:33 GMT – Tokyo reports record 472 new cases

Tokyo reported a record 472 new cases of the coronavirus, NHK reported on Sunday.

The daily tally in the Japanese capital topped 400 for the second day in a row as of the end of Saturday. That puts the total number of infections in Tokyo more than 13,000.

Tokyo officials say the increase may be due to outings during the 4-day holiday last month.

Nationwide, more than 1,500 new infections were reported as of the end of Saturday.

The latest Johns Hopkins University tally on Sunday showed a total of 37,780 cases and just over 1,000 deaths.

04:03 GMT – Austrian foreign office staff tests positive of coronavirus

Authorities have announced that an employee at the Austrian chancellery has tested positive for the coronavirus, but did not work directly with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, according to AP news agency.

The Austria Press Agency reported the chancellery says people who were in contact with the employee have tested negative and the office’s work was not affected by the support worker’s infection. Kurz is tested regularly for the virus.

Austria’s handling of the pandemic has generally been viewed as relatively successful. The country recently toughened rules on wearing masks after an increase in new infections.

Austria has 718 confirmed deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

03:47 GMT – South Korea reports 22 new importted cases, eight local infections

South Korea reported 30 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, with 22 of them imported cases and eight local cases, marking the second day in a row that local infections have increased by a single-digit figure, according to Yonhap news agency.

The new cases raised South Korea’s total cases of COVID-19 to 14,366, while the nation’s death toll remained at 301, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

The number of new cases has been in the 30s since Friday when South Korea reported 36 new virus cases. The number fell to 31 on Saturday.

03:25 GMT – France starts testing passengers from 16 countries at airports, ports

Travelers entering France from 16 countries where the coronavirus is circulating widely must have virus tests upon arrival at French airports and ports, AP news agency reported.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced last month the tests would be required starting on Saturday for the arriving passengers, unless they present proof of a negative test within 72 hours of their departure.

Those who test positive in France must quarantine for 14 days.

France is not permitting general travel to and from the 16 countries, which include the hotspots of the United States and Brazil.

02:49 GMT – Manila’s Catholic leader orders shutdown of church activities, mass gatherings

The Philippines has reported over 98,000 cases and more than 2,000 deaths as of Saturday [File: Aaron Favila/AP]

The head of Manila’s Catholic church has ordered the suspension of all public activities and other mass gatherings for the next ten days, as part of the effort to help curb the spread of the coronavirus in the Philippine capital.

“As a response to the call of our medical people, all the churches and shrines in the Archdiocese of Manila will revert to the period of ECQ protocols,” Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the head of the Archdiocese of Manila said, in reference to the previous strict lockdown procedures imposed in Manila.

“We will not hold public religious activities from August 3 to 14 but we continue our online activities,” he added in the statement issued late on Saturday. Pabillo had earlier tested positive of the virus.

The Philippines’ more than 100 million population is predominantly Catholic. The head of the Manila church is seen as the most influential figure in the Catholic hierarchy in the country.

The Philippines has reported over 98,000 cases and over 2,000 deaths as of Saturday. 

02:37 GMT – Brazil reports 45,392 new coronavirus cases, 1,088 deaths in last 24 hours

Brazil has recorded 45,392 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus as well as 1,088 deaths from the disease caused by the virus in the past 24 hours, Reuters reported quoting the country’s health ministry.

Brazil has registered more than 2.7 million cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 93,563, according to ministry data.

02:05 GMT – Australia’s Victoria sees more than 650 new coronavirus cases

Australia’s state of Victoria reported more than 650 infections of the new coronavirus on Sunday, up from 397 cases the previous day, Reuters news reported city ABC News television.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews is to announce the official number of cases later on Sunday, together with a set of new measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

01:40 GMT – Mainland China reports 49 new coronavirus cases, including 30 in Xinjiang

China has reported 49 cases of the new coronavirus in the mainland as of the end of August 1, up from 45 cases a day earlier, Reuters news agency reported on Sunday quoting the health commission.

Of the new infections, 30 were in the far western region of Xinjiang, three were in the northeastern province of Liaoning, and the remaining 16 were imported cases, according to a statement by the National Health Commission.

China reported 20 new asymptomatic cases, down from 23 a day earlier. As of the end of Saturday, mainland China had 84,385 confirmed coronavirus cases, the health authority said. The COVID-19 death toll remained at 4,634.

01:30 GMT – Italy’s daily COVID-19 infections dip under 300

Italy’s daily coronavirus infections has dipped under 300 cases for the first time in three days, after a recent flurry of clusters throughout the nation raised concern among health experts, according to AP news agency.

The Health Ministry says Italy registered 295 cases in the last 24 hours, raising the total to 247,832.

The ministry’s weekly report says there were 123 clusters of infection throughout Italy in the previous seven days.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Roberto Speranza ordered the railways to resume leaving empty seats so passengers can be at least one meter (3 ½ feet) apart during summer travel.

With five more deaths, the total confirmed deaths in Italy reached more than 35,000 as of the end of Saturday.

01:04 GMT – Mexico reports new record of more than 9,500 coronavirus cases

Mexico has racked up a record number of new confirmed coronavirus infections, registering more than 9,000 daily cases for the first time and passing the previous peak for the second day running, Reuters news agency reported on Sunday quoting official data.

Mexico’s health ministry reported 9,556 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, surging past the record of 8,458 set on Friday. The ministry also logged 784 additional fatalities, bringing the total tally in the country to 434,193 cases and 47,472 deaths.

The new record in cases came a day after Mexico overtook Britain as the country with the third-highest number of deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Mexico has struggled to contain the virus, and has since late May been trying to restart the economy, which in the April-June period contracted by more than 17 percent quarter-on-quarter.

00:47 GMT – High-ranking US Congress member tests positive of coronavirus

Congressman Raul Grijalva, a high-ranking member of the US Congress from the state of Arizona has announced that he has the coronavirus.

The Democrat says he tested positive for the coronavirus days after he sat close to another member, Texas Rep Louie Gohmert, who announced a positive test this week.

The 72-year-old Grivalva is at least the 11th member of Congress known to have tested positive for the virus.

Gohmert, a Republican, has questioned the use of masks and often walked around the Capitol without one.

00:30 GMT – Greece confirms 110 new coronavirus cases

Greek authorities say there were 110 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the fourth-highest daily figure and highest since April, according to AP news agency.

Authorities say 23 of the cases concerned employees at a meat processing factory in the northern city of Kavala. Tests on all 140 employees are still ongoing. Another 10 cases involved people who attended a wedding in the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest.

Only nine of the cases involved incoming travelers.

Greece has 4,587 total confirmed cases and 206 deaths, with no deaths reported as if the end of Saturday.

00:05 GMT – Vietnam reports four new COVID-19 cases; two are imported

Vietnam’s health ministry has reported four new coronavirus cases, including two locally transmitted and two imported cases, according to Reuters News Agency.

The Southeast Asian country has registered a total of 590 cases, of which 144 infections are linked to the recent outbreak in the coastal city of Danang. Vietnam has recorded three deaths, the health ministry said in a statement.

00:01 GMT – Thousands demand Netanyahu resignation as Israel PM

Thousands of demonstrators have gathered outside the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and thronged the streets of central Jerusalem, as weeks of protests against the Israeli leader appeared to be gaining steam.

The demonstration in central Jerusalem, along with smaller gatherings in Tel Aviv, near Netanyahu’s beach house in central Israel and at dozens of busy intersections nationwide, was one of the largest turnouts in weeks of protests.

Israeli media estimated at least 10,000 people demonstrated near the official residence in central Jerusalem.

Late on Saturday, thousands marched through the streets in a noisy but orderly rally. Demonstrators hoisted Israeli flags and blew loud horns as they marched. Many held posters that said “Crime Minister” and “Bibi Go Home” or accused Netanyahu of being out of touch with the public.

For months, thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets, calling for Netanyahu to resign, protesting his handling of the country’s coronavirus crisis and saying he should not remain in office while on trial for corruption charges. Though Netanyahu has tried to play down the protests, the twice-a-week gatherings show no signs of slowing.

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Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Ted Regencia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

For all the key coronavirus-related developments from yesterday, August 1st, click here.

Philippines to update COVID-19 strategy as healthcare workers seek “timeout”
MANILA, Aug 2 (Reuters) – The Philippines’ health department vowed on Sunday to update its game plan against COVID-19 within a week and sought to beef up the healthcare workforce in the capital Manila, where medical frontliners are calling for reviving strict lockdowns.

The Southeast Asian country on Saturday reported 4,963 additional coronavirus infections, the largest single-day jump on record, bringing its total confirmed cases to 98,232, while its death toll had climbed to 2,039.

It has the second-highest number of coronavirus infections and COVID-19 deaths in the region, behind Indonesia.

In the largest call yet from medical experts to contain the virus, 80 groups representing 80,000 doctors and a million nurses, on Saturday said the Philippines was losing the fight against the disease and warned of a collapse of the healthcare system from soaring infections without tighter controls.