Spain reported 52,188 new coronavirus cases and 279 new confirmed deaths since Friday
The Latest: Coronavirus death toll in Spain crosses 35,000By The Associated PressThe Associated Press
Spain has reported 52,188 new coronavirus cases and 279 new confirmed deaths since Friday.
Monday’s data brought the total people infected since the start of the pandemic to nearly 1.1 million and the death toll to 35,031, although experts agree that the real figures could be much higher due to missed cases.
The top virus expert, Fernando Simón said that the “evolution (of new infections) is fast” and likely to continue this way over the next few weeks.
Four of Spain’s 19 regions announced they would be banning all but essential travel across their regional borders following a state of emergency ordered by central authorities on Sunday that imposed an overnight curfew and caps of six people in social meetings.
Simón said that nearly every region in Spain was at high risk.
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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— Trump to intensify his campaign schedule despite U.S. virus surge, new White House outbreak
— Wary of angering public with restrictions, Iran has few ways to contain virus
— Nations across Europe enact more sweeping restrictions to try to slow surging infection rates
— Mexico acknowledges far more deaths than officially confirmed, saying 139,153 now attributable to COVID-19
— El Paso, Texas imposes curfew as virus cases overwhelm hospitals
— COVID-19 cases surge in north-central West Virginia county, shutting down schools and sports
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— Follow AP’s coronavirus pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
GENEVA — The head of the World Health Organization dismissed suggestions from a top White House aide that the COVID-19 pandemic couldn’t be controlled, saying that giving up on suppressing the virus is dangerous.
On Sunday, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said officials in the U.S. would not be able to control the coronavirus because it is “a contagious virus just like the flu.”
Asked to respond to Meadows’ comments at a press briefing on Monday, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “giving up on control is dangerous.”
Tedros said that while the U.N. health agency agreed with the U.S.’ priority to protect the most vulnerable from COVID-19, more stringent measures should be taken to stop the coronavirus.
Tedros called for both governments and their citizens to each do their part to contain the pandemic.
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COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina’s business agency has approved more than 90% of the more than 800 events that planned to attract more than 250 people since the governor removed the COVID-19 related ban on the gatherings in early August.
The Post and Courier of Charleston reported that while the state Commerce Department reviews the events and approves them if they include proper social distancing plans and mask rules, it doesn’t follow up to make sure events follow their own guidelines. That’s left to local law enforcement.
Meanwhile, South Carolina’s COVID-19 cases are creeping back toward a point not seen since Republican Gov. Henry McMaster lifted the ban on large gatherings.
The state’s seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases was more than 950. It has been below 1,000 new cases since mid-August other than a few brief spikes as many schools returned in September.
The seven-day average for daily COVID-19 deaths has also been climbing from 12 to 22 over the past 10 days.
South Carolina’s upward trend in cases, hospitalizations and deaths have not been as pronounced as areas in the central and western U.S., which are setting records for case counts and seeing hospitals overwhelmed.
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BURLEY, Idaho — Most courts in south-central Idaho have been prevented from holding jury trials because of high weekly confirmed coronavirus case numbers following an order that places virus case thresholds on when trials can resume.
The Times-News reports that the Idaho Supreme Court issued the order last month allowing jury trials to start again when their counties meet the new case threshold level. The state high court previously suspended all trials in March.
Camas County is the only county that has low enough numbers to hold jury trials.
Trial court administrator Shelli Tubbs says there has only been one in-person trial so far. All other hearings were conducted online.
According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, Idaho has had at least 59,344 confirmed coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, including 573 deaths. On Sunday, 650 new cases were reported.
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GENEVA — The World Health Organization says national…
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