- Anti-racism rallies “undoubtedly” raise the risk of new infections, the UK Health Secretary warns
- Total infection numbers in Brazil are no longer displayed on the key government website
- Sweden’s economy is headed for a record plunge despite avoiding lockdown
11:07 Chinese officials released a report praising China’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, which also addresses some of the criticism lobbied by the US administration.
The report says China “wasted no time” in sharing information on the virus, including its genetic sequence, with the World Health Organization and other countries. Previously, the AP news agency reported that China delayed for over a week before sharing the genome in January and identifying the virus in a foreign country.
National Health Commission head Ma Xiaowei said the AP’s story “seriously goes against the facts.”
“The Chinese government did not delay or cover up anything,” he said. In an apparent jab at the US, he said “certain countries go against the tide of history.”
“To disguise their inadequate response to COVID-19, they insanely smeared and slandered China… In response to such scapegoating practice, China will certainly fight back.”
10:02 While companies around the world race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, a US senator claimed there was evidence that China was trying to slow down or sabotage the West’s efforts.
“China does not want us… to do it first,” Republican senator Rick Scott told the BBC. “We have got to get this vaccine done. Unfortunately, we have evidence that communist China is trying to sabotage us or slow it down,” said the Florida-based politician.
He did not provide details on the evidence but said it came through the US intelligence community.
“What I really believe is whether England does it first or we do it first, we are going to share,” Scott added. “Communist China, they are not going to share.”
09:42 Dutch authorities have started culling mink at fur farms across the country after several coronavirus outbreaks were reported and at least two people were “very likely” infected through contact with the diseased animals. Over 10,000 animals in at least 10 farms are set to be exterminated in the coming week.
Animal rights activists sued against the measure, but their effort was rejected on Friday. The animals were killed by carbon monoxide, the officials said. The Netherlands has over 150 mink farms. However, mink farming was outlawed in the Netherlands in 2013, with farms told to close down by 2023.
08:27 Protests against police brutality across the UK will “undoubtedly” raise the risk of coronavirus cases, said the UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
“I support very strongly the argument that is being made by those who are protesting… but the virus itself doesn’t discriminate and gathering in large groups is temporarily against the rules precisely because it increases the risk of the spread of the virus.”
His comments come after thousands of protesters ignored government appeals to stay at home and gathered in London on Saturday, taking a knee and chanting the name of George Floyd, the victim of police brutality in the US. Small groups of protesters later clashed with the police, with at least 14 officers injured.
06:09 Sweden is facing a record economic drop despite not locking down like other European countries, SEB bank economist Olle Holmgren told the AFP news agency.
“As in most of the world. there will be a record decline for the Swedish economy in Q2,” said Holmgren.
The expert, who works for the influential Swedish financial group, also said that a rebound was likely in the second part of the year.
Health officials in the Scandinavian country have recommended social distancing and avoiding travel, but kept bars, restaurants, and most businesses open. The strategy drew attention from all across the world. By Sunday morning, Sweden had close to 43,900 confirmed infections and 4,656 deaths out of a population of 10.3 million. The outbreak has hit the country more severe than any of its Scandinavian neighbors.
Read more: Sweden starts to doubt its outlier coronavirus strategy
05:51 China reported its first non-imported coronavirus case in two weeks, alongside five more cases imported from abroad. The domestic infection was discovered on the island of Hainan off the country’s southern coast. While the current pandemic originated in China in late 2019, the authorities have managed to contain the spread of the disease domestically, with some 83,000 cases and 4,634 deaths reported in the country overall as of Sunday morning. The world’s most populous country is currently listed 18th by caseload according to the tally provided by Johns Hopkins University.
05:48 A key government website in Brazil no longer shows total deaths and coronavirus cases, with only the daily numbers still available. The authorities have decided to revamp the page with President Jair Bolsonaro claiming that the overall data “does not reflect the moment the country is in.”
Separately, a Bolsonaro ally suggested that some states have been sending false reports to the federal health ministry.
“The number we have today is fanciful or manipulated,” businessman Carlos Wizard, expected to take a high-level position in the ministry, told O Globo newspaper.
In turn, a council of state health secretaries slammed the “authoritarian, insensitive, inhumane, and unethical attempt to make the COVID-19 deaths invisible.”
According to the tally kept by the US-based Johns Hopkins Institute, Brazil has seen nearly 673,000 coronavirus cases and 35,930 deaths as of Sunday morning. Only the US has reported more coronavirus cases. The figures also make Brazil third heaviest-hit country in the world on the total number of fatalities, behind the US and the UK.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly dismissed fears of the pandemic, describing the coronavirus as “little flu.”
This week, the country also moved its daily coronavirus briefing to late in the evening. On Friday, Bolsonaro joked the move would annoy the reporters working for the country’s most-watched news program, Jornal Nacional, which would now be broadcast before the government releases its latest figures.
05:47 Catch up on Saturday’s developments here: Coronavirus latest: South Asia set to become new COVID-19 hotspot
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.
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