Coronavirus latest: Trump wears face mask for the first time

July 12, 2020

Bill Gates calls for drugs and potential vaccine to be given first to those who need them most
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All updates in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC/GMT)

03:52 The number of confirmed new coronavirus cases in Germany has increased by 248 to 198,804, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday. The reported COVID-19 death toll rose by three to 9,063.

The new figures show a continuing trend of low coronavirus infections in the country, which has prompted organizations like the German Football League (DFL) to consider loosening restrictions on gatherings. The DFL said it planned to let fans back into stadiums, but without singing or allowing loud shouting.

The Bundesliga has faced pushback from fans for the decision to continue to hold games without letting audiences back into stadiums. Germany’s Bundesliga has already wrapped up the 2019-20 season and is set to start its 2020-21 season on September 18.

Bundesliga club Union Berlin has said it will allow fans into the stadium in September, saying it is prepared to pay for COVID-19 tests for all its staff and its 22,012 season ticket holders so that they can reenter the stadium. Fans would have to show a ticket and a negative test that is less than 24 hours old to enter the stands.

01:32: The US reported another record rise in coronavirus cases on Saturday, with 66,528 new cases, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University The death toll stood at 134,729 with 760 additional deaths counted. In total, the country has so far registered over 3.2 million cases. The US has now seen daily new cases top 60,000 in four of the past five days.

00:59 Brazil recorded 1,071 new deaths from coronavirus and a total of 1,839,850 confirmed cases, the Health Ministry said. In total, some 71,469 people have died from COVID-19 in the South American nation. Brazil is currently the world’s number two coronavirus hotspot, after the United States.

Authorities canceled one of southern Brazil’s biggest football games less than 24 hours before kick-off, after 14 members of one side tested positive for COVID-19. The Santa Catarina state championship had been restarted on July 8 with four games, including Chapecoense’s 2-0 home win over Avai.

“One of the teams had 14 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and it is necessary for all the players to follow the necessary protective measures,” the state health authorities said in a statement. Santa Catarina state has recorded 42,026 cases of the new coronavirus, with 485 deaths.

00:16 CanSino Biologics, a Chinese vaccine maker, is currently in talks with four countries — Russia, Brazil, Chile and Saudi Arabia — to launch a phase 3 trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine. Qiu Dongxu, executive director and co-founder of the company, said that the trial would start “pretty soon” and CanSino would recruit 40,000 people for the trial.

The company is currently constructing a new factory in China. CanSino expects to annually produce 100-200 million doses of the vaccine by early 2021, if it is approved.

CanSino’s vaccine candidate, Ad5-nCov, was approved for testing on humans in March — becoming the first vaccine in China to achieve the feat. China has also approved two vaccine candidates by Sinovac Biotech and Sinopharm for phase 3 trials.

Read more: What’s the science on DNA and RNA vaccines?

00:05 US President Donald Trump made his first public appearance with a face mask on Saturday at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in the state of Maryland. The president wore a navy-blue mask emblazoned with a presidential seal at the military medical facility, where he was scheduled to meet combat veterans and healthcare workers.

“I think when you are in a hospital, especially in that particular setting when you are talking to a lot of soldiers, people that in some cases just got off the operating table, I think it’s a great thing to wear a mask,” Trump said during a press briefing before the visit to the hospital.

Trump had previously refused to wear a mask publicly or ask Americans to do so, citing the decision to wear a mask a “personal choice.”

In May, Trump had been spotted wearing a mask during a visit to a factory operated by US carmaker Ford. However, he didn’t wear the mask in the public portion of the plant, saying that he didn’t “want to give the press the pleasure of seeing him” in a face mask.

00:00 Catch up on Saturday’s coronavirus news here: Coronavirus latest: Brazil’s death toll tops 70,000

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.

am,jcg/sri (dpa, AFP, Reuters)

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