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Coronavirus latest: India overtakes Russia in COVID-19 cases

Times of News

12:37 Renowned Broadway actor Nick Cordero, who starred in shows such as ”Waitress,” ”A Bronx Tale,” and ”Bullets Over Broadway,” has died of complications from the coronavirus at the age of 41.

Cordero died on Sunday in Los Angeles, after more than 90 days in the hospital, according to his wife, Amanda Kloots. ”God has another angel in heaven now,” she wrote on Instagram. 

”Nick was such a bright light. He was everyone’s friend, loved to listen, help and especially talk. He was an incredible actor and musician. He loved his family and loved being a father and husband.”

Cordero went to the emergency room on March 30, and subsequently became unconscious, had his right leg amputated and was put on a ventilator. During his hospitalization, his wife sent him daily videos of her and their one-year-old son, Elvis, so he could see them if he woke up. 

The actor, who often played the role of a tough guy on stage, played a mob soldier in Broadway’s Woody Allen 1994 film adaptation of ”Bullets Over Broadway,” for which he received a Tony nomination for best-featured actor in a musical. On screen, he appeared in several episodes of ”Blue Bloods,” ”Law Order: Special Victims Unit,” and in the film ”Going in Style.” 

Cordero’s wife Kloot also spared special tanks for the performer’s doctor

11:20 Lobbyists with links to US President Donald Trump helped clients to more than $10 billion (€8.86 billion) in government funds to fight COVID-19, according to a report.

Among the forty lobbyists, five were former administration officials whose activities potentially contravene Trump’s own ethics protocol, the report added.

The lobbyists have been named by the watchdog group Public Citizen. Some served in the Trump executive branch, while others worked on his election campaign trail or were part of the committee that raised money for events. There were others who were a part of his presidential transition team.

According to Public Citizen, they include Brian Ballard, who served on the transition. He is the finance chair for the Republican National Committee and has secured more than $1 million for Trump’s fundraising committees.

Another who has been identified is Dave Urban, an adviser to the president. Urban has acquired in excess of $2.3 million in lobbying fees this year alone.

10:35 Passengers on public transport across Switzerland have begun wearing face masks after the government ordered citizens to do so.

Most restrictive measures were phased out last month as the number of infections across the country dropped but they have since gathered pace again as people come into closer contact, prompting the government to implement the new rule on wearing face masks on trains, trams, buses, mountain railways and ferries.

09:30 Chinese authorities have detained a law professor who published critical articles of President Xi Jinping‘s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as his undemocratic policies, according to friends of the man.

Read more: Coronavirus — China detains professor who criticized President Xi Jinping

Xu Zhangrun was seized at his home in suburban Beijing, before being taken away by more than 20 people, one of his friends said on condition of anonymity.

The Chinese regime takes a dim view of negative publicity, particularly if it stems from its heavily censored academia.

08:38 Russia now has reported a total of 687,862 cases after officials reported a further 6,611 new infections had been added to the tally in the last 24 hours. It is, nevertheless, a slight fall on yesterday’s daily figure.

Authorities also said 135 people had died overnight, bringing Russia’s official death toll to 10,296. The daily fatality count is one more than the previous day’s toll.

Russia has the fourth highest number of cases in the world after India overtook the eastern European country over the weekend. As a result, India is the country with the third highest number of infections behind the United States and Brazil.

07:04 The Louvre museum in Paris has partially reopened after 16 weeks of closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

While popular attractions like Leonardo Da Vinci’s the “Mona Lisa” will be accessible, other galleries where social distancing is difficult will remain closed, leaving nearly a third of the museum’s galleries inaccessible to the public.

To avoid the typical crowding for a selfie in front of Da Vinci’s masterpiece, the museum said it had installed markers on the floor to keep visitors at a safe distance from each other. Arrows have also been placed throughout the museum to keep crowds moving smoothly and safely. Doubling back is not allowed, the museum said.

The world’s most visited museum has lost over €40 million ($45 million) in ticket sales over the near-four-month lockdown.

Around 70% of the museum’s 9.6 million visitors in 2019 were from abroad. With tourism and travel sharply affected by the coronavirus outbreak, Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez told news agency AFP the outlook for 2020 is bleak.

“We are losing 80% of our public,” he said. “We are going to be at best 20 to 30% down on last summer — between 4,000 and 10,000 visitors a day.”


06:35 A Kansas county Republican Party chairman who also owns a newspaper has apologized for likening an order to wear face masks to the Nazi treatment of Jewish people during the Holocaust.

The owner and publisher of The Anderson County Review, Dane Hicks, said in a statement posted on Facebook that he was taking down a cartoon posted on the social media site following “some heartfelt and educational conversations with Jewish leaders in the US and abroad.”

The weekly paper posted the cartoon on Friday, and it drew dozens of critical responses, as well as worldwide focus. To make matters worse, Hicks then posted a blog on Saturday, defending the cartoon. The blog also attracted criticism with the public disappointed in its lack of contrition.

05:30 The coronavirus crisis has hit young people in Spain, where authorities have introduced a second local lockdown, with full force.

An emergency work program — employing “beach sheriffs” — is in place in some tourist spots. For some, it’s a financial lifeline through the summer. DW’s Jan-Philipp Scholz reports from Andalucia on how that’s helping.

05:05 India has overtaken Russia to become the country with the third-highest number of COVID-19 infections in the world, according to the latest figures from the Johns Hopkins Institute. 

Close 25,000 new infections recorded Monday have brought the country’s total number of confirmed cases to nearly 700,000.

India trails the US and Brazil in confirmed coronavirus cases.

Nearly 20,000 people have died in India since cases were first confirmed in January.

03:45 Germany’s health authority, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), reported 219 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the country’s total to 219,554 cases since the pandemic began.

The RKI also that the death toll from the virus increased by four to 9,016. 

03:24 Saudi Arabia has announced new health protocols for domestic pilgrims who will be attending the haj. The new measures include a ban on gatherings and meetings during the 2020 haj season, according to the state news agency.

Pilgrims will not be allowed to touch the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, and everyone will be required to maintain a distance of 1.5 meters during the rituals. Only those with haj permits will be allowed to access holy sites at Mona, Muzdalifah and Arafat. Wearing masks is mandatory.

Last month, Saudi Arabia limited the haj pilgrimage to only around 1,000 domestic pilgrims. For the first time, no Muslims from other countries will be allowed to curb the spread of the virus.

03:22 The border between Australia’s two most-populous states — New South Wales and Victoria — is being closed over virus fears. This is the first time that the borders are being sealed since the Spanish flu pandemic. 

Victoria reported 127 new infections overnight, the state’s biggest spike in cases since the virus was first reported in the country.

Victoria’s capital city of Melbourne has seen a rise in infections, which has led to stricter social-distancing orders. Nine public housing towers have been placed under lockdown to curb the spread of the virus.

The decision was made jointly by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

While Australia has largely managed to keep the pandemic under control with just over 8,500 cases, this recent spike has raised concerns over the response moving forward.

01:49 US President Donald Trump is set to host another rally for his re-election campaign even as several states deal with a surge in coronavirus cases. The open-air rally will be held at Portsmouth airport in New Hampshire on July 11, Trump’s campaign said on Sunday.

Trump’s first major campaign event amid virus fears was held in a closed stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma in June. The campaign was criticized as the number of infections in the southern state was on the rise at the time.

While close to a million people registered for the earlier rally, attendance was dismal.

The upcoming event will be held outdoors to combat the criticism that Trump received for holding a large event in a closed room as it may increase the chance of infection. While masks will be provided, the campaign said that all guests must agree that they “voluntarily accept all risks” and the Trump campaign will not be liable for infections.

The US has reported close to 2.9 million confirmed infections and nearly 130,000 virus-related deaths, making it the worst-hit country in the world.

00:20 Brazil has reported 26,051 new infections, taking the country’s total number of confirmed cases to over 1.6 million, according to data from the health ministry. The second worst-hit country also reported 602 new fatalities, taking the death toll to 64,867.

00:12 India has reported another record daily increase in the number of coronavirus cases with close to 25,000 infections reported on Sunday. With 613 new deaths, the cumulative death toll has risen to 19,268.

The government has decided not to reopen India’s popular tourist attraction, the Taj Mahal, citing the risk of coronavirus infections spreading in Agra city.

On Sunday, local authorities issued a new advisory, ordering an extension of lockdown restrictions on monuments in and around the northern city. The monuments in Agra, including the Taj Mahal, have been closed to the public since March.

“In the interest of the public, it has been decided that opening monuments in Agra will not be advisable as of now,” district authorities said in a notice.

With over 673,000 confirmed cases, India is close to overtaking Russia to become the third hardest-hit country in the world, behind the US and Brazil.

00:06 Germany’s Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn has warned that the virus is “still there” and getting rid of masks ahead of time is not an option.

“I understand the impatience and desire for normality. But the virus is still here,” Spahn wrote on Twitter. “Where the necessary distance is not always assured in closed rooms, the everyday mask remains necessary.”

Spahn seemed to be addressing concerns put forward by some states that masks should not be mandatory in shops as Germany’s infection rate remains under control. The country has reported just under 200,000 infections and over 9,000 deaths from the virus.

00:00 Catch up on yesterday’s coronavirus news here: Coronavirus latest: Spain imposes second local lockdown

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.

js,kp,see/aw (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)

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