Coronavirus latest: Brazil death toll tops 80,000

• Two more Cabinet ministers have tested positive for COVID-19 in Brazil, where the death toll has surpassed 80,000 
• EU leaders appear to be close to reaching a deal on a €750-billion coronavirus recovery fund 
• An experimental coronavirus vaccine in the UK has produced an immune response in early-stage clinical trials
• Worldwide, more than 608,000 people have died from the coronavirus, with more than 14 million infections

All updates in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC/GMT)

02:42 Germany has recorded 522 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total infection tally to 202,345. According to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases, the death toll stands at 9,090 after four new fatalities in the last 24 hours. 

02:18 Brazil is set to begin advanced clinical testing of a Chinese-developed vaccine against the coronavirus on Tuesday, the AFP news agency quoted officials as saying.

Produced by Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac, is the third experimental vaccine in the world to move to large-scale human testing — the final step before regulatory approval. As part of the clinical trials, doses will be given to 900 volunteers.

“Trials of CoronaVac, one of the vaccines that has advanced furthest in testing in the world, will begin at the Clinical Hospital of Sao Paulo,” the state’s governor, Joao Doria, told a news conference. He added that the first results were expected in 90 days.

Brazil is also helping to carry out human trials of the experimental vaccine developed by Oxford University in Britain and pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca.

01:28 The Australian state of Victoria is reporting three more deaths from the coronavirus and 374 new cases, up from 275 cases logged on Monday.

The state has recorded just under 6,300 cases in total — nearly half of the infections in the whole of Australia.

The surge in new cases has prompted Victoria’s government to impose a six-week partial lockdown in the city of Melbourne, the state’s capital. Residents there have been ordered to wear masks when leaving their homes or risk fines.

0:46 European Union leaders have entered a fifth day of talks on an unprecedented €1.82 trillion ($2.1 trillion) budget and a €750 billion coronavirus recovery fund which will be sent as loans and grants to countries hit hardest by the virus.

According to an EU diplomat, major issues have been dealt with and some member states are now working on getting some final small concessions in the seven-year budget, which could take hours. 

The budget comes at a time when the 27-nation bloc faces the worst recession in its history. “An extraordinary situation demands extraordinary efforts,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“There were extremely tense moments,” said French President Emmanuel Macron, adding that “on content, things have moved forward.”

00:33 Mexico has seen a 9.2% increase in the number of women murdered during the coronavirus pandemic, besides an overall rise in homicides, according to government data.

In the first half of this year, 17,982 people were murdered, a 1.9% increase over the 17,653 killings in the same period last year. 

Activists have attributed the rise in the killing of women to the increased confinement of families to their homes. This year, 489 women were killed in the first six months, compared to 448 in the first half of 2019.

The pandemic has also failed to curb the drug gang activity that is a major driver of violence in Mexico. A video surfaced online last week, showing about 75 heavily armed drug cartel gunmen in military-style fatigues with a dozen homemade armored pickup trucks. Mexico’s department of defense said the video was authentic and showed “evidence of military-style training.”

00:17 Israel’s parliament has voted to allow the country’s domestic intelligence agency to track the cellphones of those diagnosed with COVID-19 for the rest of the year. 

The law, cleared by the Knesset in a late-night session, allows the agency Shin Bet to track location data of those infected with the virus for the 14 days before they were diagnosed. The data would then be used for contact-tracing.   

The law also includes additional oversight, requiring the government to renew its request every three weeks. However, it has raised fears among privacy watchdog groups over dangers to individual liberty.  

The agency’s surveillance technology can only be used when the new daily cases exceed 200. The measure allows anyone ordered into self-quarantine to appeal if they believe the data is inaccurate. 

Israel, which has so far reported 415 deaths from the virus, registered about 1,500 new infections on Monday. 

Read more: Israel’s anti-government protests deepen Netanyahu’s problems

00:09 Brazil’s coronavirus death toll has surged past the 80,000-mark after 632 newly recorded deaths in the past 24 hours. The country’s Health Ministry also confirmed 20,257 new infections. 

Brazil is the world’s second-worst affected nation after the US, with over 2 million cases. 

Meanwhile, two more ministers in the Cabinet of President Jair Bolsonaro have tested positive for the virus. Onyx Lorenzoni, the minister of citizenship and Milton Ribeiro, the education minister, both announced their test results on Twitter. 

Ribeiro is the fifth high-ranking government official to have been infected so far, besides the president. 

00:00 Catch up on Monday’s coronavirus news here.

In reporting on the coronavirus pandemic, unless otherwise specified, DW uses figures provided by the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Coronavirus Resource Center in the United States. JHU updates figures in real-time, collating data from world health organizations, state and national governments, and other public official sources, all of whom have their own systems for compiling information.

Germany’s national statistics are compiled by its public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). These figures depend on data transmission from state and local levels and are updated around once a day, which can lead to deviation from JHU.

adj/nm (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)

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