Coronavirus News: July 13 – Bollywood Hit by Virus, Hong Kong Returns to Partial Lockdown

By Anna Breuer on 13 July 2020
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The Rathaus on the Marienplatz in Munich

As the workweek starts, the outlook with respect to the coronavirus pandemic remains bleak. Over 100,000 new cases were reported in the United States alone, as the global total passed the 13 million mark.

The Florida Department of Health reported at least 15,299 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, the highest number of new cases in a single day by any state since the start of the pandemic.

Germany should be able to prevent a second wave of the coronavirus later this year, provided people remain vigilant, Gesundheitsminister Jens Spahn told reporters.  He warned holidaymakers not to be complacent and to remain vigilant.

“We have to try particularly now in the holiday season to prevent infections,” Spahn said at a news conference. “Together, as a society, we can prevent that, as we did once before: breaking the wave and keeping the pandemic in check.”

Officials in Hong Kong said that they would close gyms and cinemas and ban public gatherings of more than four people in response amidst a new wave of locally transmitted infections.  The city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, also announced a prohibition on indoor dining at restaurants every evening from 6 p.m., and a requirement that everyone taking public transport wear a mask.

Meanwhile, officials there said that a patient had received blood from a donor who later tested positive for the coronavirus.  “The blood transfusion service has been tracing the blood he donated and for now found that a patient in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital received a platelet transfusion,” Lau Ka-hin, a spokesman for the city’s Hospital Authority, told reporters.

Philippe Monguillot, a French bus driver, was beaten to death over the weekend after asking four passengers to wear face masks.  Face coverings are required aboard French mass transit systems.

On Saturday, U.S. President Trump bowed to the advice of health officials and experts and wore a mask during a visit to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Several of Bollywood’s biggest stars were hospitalized after testing positive for the novel coronavirus over the course of the weekend including husband and wife actor and actresss Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Two pharmaceutical companies, BioNTech and Pfizer, announced that that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted two of their vaccine candidates were granted “fast track” status.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

Accura News