German Chancellor Angela Merkel says new coronavirus restrictions that took effect Monday were implemented because the country has seen “exponential growth” in cases in recent weeks, and officials are facing an acute emergency in the nation’s hospitals.
Speaking to reporters in Berlin following a Cabinet meeting on the virus Monday, Merkel said the Robert Koch Institute, which monitors public health, reported 12,097 new cases in the country, raising the overall number to 545,027 currently.
Merkel said the daily rate is triple what the rate was two weeks ago and five times more than in the middle of October. She said the number of intensive care patients has doubled in the last 10 days from 1,030 to 2,061. The chancellor said the new measures reflect an effort to reduce contact among people to slow the spread of the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease.
The new lockdown includes the closing of restaurants, gyms and theaters. Merkel said the lockdown’s success will not be determined by the regulations but by how well they are followed. She said if people follow the rules, and the lockdown measures reduce the spread of infections over the month of November, the more freedoms they might have in December during the Christmas holiday.
Merkel said there will still be restrictions but added, “It’s going to be a Christmas under coronavirus conditions, but it shouldn’t be a lonely Christmas.”
A reporter asked Merkel how important it was for U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration to listen to the science when it comes to the pandemic. She refused to answer, given that it was the day before the U.S. presidential election; but, she added that given her own training as a physicist, “I, of course, value scientific advice highly and follow it.”
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Month: November 2020
PM: Almost 2/3 of Slovaks Joined Nationwide COVID Test
More than 3.6 million Slovaks — around two thirds of the population — took part in a widely-watched nationwide coronavirus testing scheme over the weekend, Prime Minister Igor Matovic said on Monday.
The scheme to test the bulk of the country in a matter of days is being studied by other nations looking for ways to slow the virus and avoid overwhelming their health systems.
A total of 38,359 people or 1.06% of those who took part tested positive and must quarantine, Matovic told a news conference.
“I deeply believe that this solution will work in Slovakia on the condition that those who received certification that they are negative will continue to act responsibly and those who got a positive result will remain in quarantine with their families,” he added.
The premier has been pushing the voluntary program as a decisive way to halt the spread of the virus – though he met opposition from the president and others who balked at movement restrictions imposed on people who do not take part.
More than 40,000 medics, troops, administrative personnel and volunteers fanned across 5,000 testing sites over the weekend.
The scheme used antigen swab tests, which return results in 15-30 minutes but are less accurate than standard PCR tests. Young children were exempt. People who chose not to take part must now also go into a lockdown, according to the rules.
Compared with other parts of Europe, Slovakia recorded relatively few cases after the pandemic started spreading in March. But cases have soared in recent weeks and Matovic said the blanket testing program was necessary to avoid wider lockdowns.
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World Surpasses 1.2 Million COVID-19 Confirmed Fatalities
The global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has surpassed 1.2 million people, according to data collected by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. The fatalities are among the 46.5 million total cases compiled in the nearly year-long pandemic, and comes as the European continent reaches its own grim threshold of more than 10 million confirmed coronavirus cases. Europe is in the grips of a second wave of the virus, with a number of nations, including Belgium, Britain, France and Germany, imposing a new set of lockdowns in an effort to contain the surge. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director of the World Health Organization, announced Sunday that he is in self-quarantine after he was identified as a contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Dr. Tedros said in a tweet that he is well “and without symptoms” but will sequester himself “in line with @WHO protocols, and work from home.” I have been identified as a contact of someone who has tested positive for #COVID19. I am well and without symptoms but will self-quarantine over the coming days, in line with @WHO protocols, and work from home.— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 1, 2020 “It is critically important that we all comply with health guidance,” Dr. Tedros wrote. “This is how we will break chains of #COVID19 transmission, suppress the virus, and protect health systems.” It is critically important that we all comply with health guidance. This is how we will break chains of #COVID19 transmission, suppress the virus, and protect health systems.— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 1, 2020Britain’s Prince William was one of the 10 million coronavirus cases in Europe, according to British media reports Sunday. The 38-year-old prince was reportedly diagnosed in April, just weeks after his father, Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, announced he was entering self-isolation after coming down with mild symptoms of the virus. The illnesses of Prince Charles and Prince William occurred during the same month British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was diagnosed with COVID-19, which eventually led to his being hospitalized and put in intensive care for several days. One bright spot in the global pandemic is Australia, where health authorities said Saturday there were no new COVID-19 cases in the country, the first day of no new confirmed cases in five months. The good news comes as the southern state of Victoria is slowly emerging from a recent uptick in new cases in its capital Melbourne that began in June, peaking at more than 700 new cases a day and 819 of the nation’s 907 total deaths. The surge led state authorities to impose a strict lockdown of the city and its 5 million residents that was finally lifted last week.
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Death Toll Rises in Philippines in Aftermath of Powerful Super Typhoon
The death toll from a super typhoon that struck the main Philippine island of Luzon Sunday has risen to 16. Typhoon Goni made landfall on Luzon carrying maximum sustained winds of 225 kilometers per hour, making it the strongest typhoon to hit the Pacific archipelago this year. Goni’s arrival comes a week after Typhoon Molave hit the same region, killing 22 people. Richard Gordon, the chief of the Philippine Red Cross, says up to 90% of homes across Catanduanes Island, which was in the path of Typhoon Goni on its way to Luzon were damaged or destroyed. Goni caused power outages, infrastructure damage and major floods. Video footage from local and social media showed rivers overflowing and some dikes destroyed, submerging villages and damaging farmland. Officials also say a landfall of volcanic ash destroyed hundreds of homes located near the active Mayon volcano in the province of Albay. Nearly 350,000 people were in evacuation centers, the Philippine Disaster Management Agency said Sunday, lowering the figure of nearly a million reported Saturday. Reuters news agency says President Rodrigo Duterte will make an aerial inspection of the typhoon damage on Monday. Goni weakened as it made its way past Manila on a path to the South China Sea. But forecasters are warning that another Pacific storm, dubbed Atsani, is on a path towards the Philippines.
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Former NSA Contractor to Apply for Citizenship in Russia
Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden said on Twitter Monday that he and his wife are applying for Russian citizenship, in addition to their American citizenship. Snowden, 37, also announced he and Lindsay Mills are expecting a baby boy. “After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our son. That’s why, in this era of pandemics and closed borders, we’re applying for dual US-Russian citizenship.”After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our son. That’s why, in this era of pandemics and closed borders, we’re applying for dual US-Russian citizenship. https://t.co/cCgT0rr37e— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) November 1, 2020Snowden emphasized that the couple have no intention to renounce their U.S. citizenship. “Lindsay and I will remain Americans, raising our son with all the values of the America we love – including the freedom to speak his mind. And I look forward to the day I can return to the States, so the whole family can be reunited.”Lindsay and I will remain Americans, raising our son with all the values of the America we love—including the freedom to speak his mind. And I look forward to the day I can return to the States, so the whole family can be reunited.— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) November 1, 2020Snowden’s tweet comes weeks after Moscow granted him permanent residency. Russia also has recently changed its strict laws to allow individuals to hold dual citizenship, in their country of origin and Russian. Snowden has been living in exile in Russia since 2013, after he leaked information on U.S. Domestic and international surveillance programs. He is wanted in the United States on espionage charges after he copied and leaked secret files to The Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers. Other major world newspapers picked up the story. U.S. Public opinion is split whether to pardon Snowden. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump said he would take a close and careful look at the possibility of pardoning Snowden, but no further comments have come from Trump since. Days after Trump’s statement, in an interview with The Associated Press, Attorney General William Barr said he would be “vehemently opposed” to any attempt to pardon Snowden. In 2015, then-president Barack Obama rejected a petition to pardon Snowden.
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New Yorkers Enjoy Virtual Reality as Pandemic Refuge
Some New Yorkers are finding unique ways to get together even when they can’t be in the same space. Evgeny Maslov has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.Camera: Michael Eckels
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International Edition
FBI Probing Trump Caravan Confrontation with Biden Campaign Bus in Texas
The FBI said on Sunday it was investigating an incident in which a convoy of vehicles flying flags in support of President Donald Trump’s reelection bid surrounded a bus carrying campaign staff for Democratic challenger Joe Biden on a Texas highway. Friday’s incident — captured on video that was retweeted by Trump on Saturday with the message, “I LOVE TEXAS!” — prompted the Biden campaign to cancel at least two of its Texas events as Democrats accused the president of encouraging supporters to engage in acts of intimidation. Video footage showed a swarm of pickups and SUVs bearing pro-Trump flags surrounding the Biden campaign bus as it traveled north along Interstate 35 between San Antonio and Austin. The Biden campaign said the Trump caravan tried to force the bus to slow down and to run it off the road. One video clip aired on CNN showed a Trump-flagged pickup swerve into the side of another vehicle traveling with the bus. The Texas Tribune newspaper reported that the sideswiped vehicle was being driven by a Biden campaign staffer. According to the Biden campaign, staff aboard the bus called emergency-911 to report the incident, and local law enforcement responded to the calls and assisted the bus in reaching its destination. “FBI San Antonio is aware of the incident and investigating,” special agent Michelle Lee, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in San Antonio, told Reuters in an email. “No further information is available at this time.” On Twitter Sunday night, Trump criticized the FBI investigation of his supporters, writing: “In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong.” During a campaign stop in Michigan earlier in the day, Trump said: “Did you see our people yesterday? They were protecting his bus.” Speaking about the incident on the campaign trail Sunday in Philadelphia, Biden said: “We’ve never had anything like this. At least we’ve never had a president who thinks it’s a good thing.” Neither Biden nor his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, was aboard the bus. The Texas Tribune reported that its passengers included Democratic U.S. House of Representatives candidate and former Texas state Senator Wendy Davis. The highway confrontation came as polls showed an unexpectedly tight race between Biden and Trump in Texas, which has long been a Republican stronghold. “Rather than engage in productive conversation about the drastically different visions that Joe Biden and Donald Trump have for our country, Trump supporters in Texas instead decided to put our staff, surrogates, supporters and others in harm’s way,” Biden’s Texas campaign spokesman, Tariq Thowfeek, said in a statement. “We’ll see you on November 3rd.” Texas Republican Party Chairman Allen West, in a statement, dismissed media reports of the incident as “more fake news and propaganda,” adding: “Prepare to lose … stop bothering me.” Texas was not the only place where “Trump trains” of supporters forming vehicle convoys have caused consternation. Video footage on social media on Sunday showed vehicles flying pro-Trump flags blocking traffic on the Whitestone Bridge over the East River in New York City’s Bronx borough. Local media reported similar Sunday traffic blockades on the express lanes of the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey and the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson River linking New York’s Westchester and Rockland counties.
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Iran’s Daily COVID-19 Deaths Hit Record; Health Official says True Toll Worse
Iran’s daily tally of coronavirus deaths hit a record high of 434 on Sunday, the Health Ministry announced, and the head of a top medical body said the actual toll was at least three times higher than the official count.
The deaths, announced by Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari on state TV, take the official toll to 35,298 in the Middle East’s worst-hit country. She said the number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 7,719 to 620,491. The head of Iran’s Medical Council, Mohammadreza Zafarghandi, doubted the accuracy of the official toll and warned that Iran had reached a “catastrophic mortality rate”, the Students News Agency ISNA reported on Sunday. “The official death toll is only based on the number of registered patients,” Zafarghandi told ISNA. “Through field surveys in hospitals and cemeteries, our Council has obtained a figure at least three times higher than the official death toll.” The medical council is a non-governmental organisation that is responsible for licensing doctors in Iran. “Thousands of our health workers were infected with the virus and according to our statistics, 300 of them had died,” Zafarghandi said. A report by the Iranian parliament’s research centre in April suggested that the coronavirus toll might be almost twice as high as announced by the Health Ministry. To stem a third wave of the virus in Iran, the government has shut schools, mosques, shops and restaurants in most of the country. President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday new restrictions will take effect on Wednesday in 25 of Iran’s 31 provinces for 10 days. Measures are tighter in the capital, where authorities on Monday will decide whether to impose a complete lockdown for two weeks, state TV reported. The Interior Ministry said a four-day ban on travel in and out of 25 cities, including Tehran, will be imposed from Monday, state media reported.
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Plugged in with Greta Van Susteren
Britain Coronavirus Cases Surpass 1 Million
Britain Sunday became the ninth country with more than 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases. According to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, as of early Sunday, Britain had 1,014,794 infections and 46,645 deaths. After resisting mounting calls for weeks to impose a national lockdown as COVID-19 cases were rising, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Saturday joined his counterparts in France, Germany and Belgium in ordering a nationwide shutdown. New national lockdown restrictions will go into effect across England Thursday and last for a month. Wales announced a lockdown last week, and Scottish leaders say the next few days will be critical for Scotland to avoid a lockdown. However, schools and universities as well as courts are to stay open. The construction industry will also be allowed to operate. There will, however, be no household mixing, and nonessential stores as well as pubs and restaurants are to close. Employers will be asked to encourage their employees to work from home where possible. Meanwhile, the United States remains the country with the highest number of infections and deaths. As of Sunday morning, the U.S. had 9,127,100 cases of the coronavirus, an increase of nearly 80,000 in 24 hours, and at least 230,566 deaths, with over 850 dead in the last 24 hours. according to Johns Hopkins. The U.S. is followed by India, Brazil, Russia, France, Spain, Argentina, Colombia and the most recent one, Britain, with 1 million or more cases of the coronavirus each. The rising tide of new coronavirus cases worldwide is forcing leaders elsewhere to consider new lockdown measures to contain an increase in infections. In Greece, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Saturday that bars, cafes, movie theaters and gyms across much of the country would be shut down beginning Tuesday. Most of the affected areas are in northern Greece and in the Athens area. On Friday, Belgium imposed a partial lockdown aimed at controlling the pandemic that has hit the country harder than any other in the 27-nation European Union, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. Belgium has a high ratio of infection, 1,600 cases per 100,000 people. In comparison, Spain and Italy have ratios less than a third of that. In addition, hospitals in Belgium have almost reached capacity. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a nationwide monthlong lockdown, effective Friday, with restaurants, bars, cafes and other nonessential businesses closed. Citizens can leave their homes only for work, shopping and doctor appointments. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a set of similar measures in her own monthlong lockdown, which takes effect Monday. In addition to restaurants and bars, all gyms, theaters and opera houses will be closed under Merkel’s order, while most businesses, shops and hair salons will be allowed to remain open. Schools in both nations will remain open during their respective lockdowns. European countries, meanwhile, are calling on the global community to grant the World Health Organization greater authority to independently investigate outbreaks after the pandemic exposed the agency’s deficiencies. The WHO does not have the authority to independently investigate epidemics, forcing it to rely on countries to approve their lists of suggested experts and to abide by the agendas developed by them. As of Sunday morning, there were over 46.1 million total coronavirus cases worldwide, including nearly 1.2 million COVID-19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins statistics.
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Suspect in Attack on Greek Orthodox Priest in Lyon Arrested
French authorities said that a person suspected of firing a hunting gun and seriously wounding a Greek Orthodox priest outside a church in the city of Lyon, France, Saturday, is in police custody.Nikolaos Kakavelaki was closing his church when he was shot twice in the chest at point-blank range and is currently in a serious condition in the hospital, police sources said.The motive for the attack is still unclear, but it comes after a young Tunisian killed three people inside the Notre Dame Basilica in the southern French city of Nice on Thursday and the beheading of a history teacher near Paris earlier last month.Security throughout France remains high after the deadly stabbings at the basilica, while President Emmanuel Macron tried to ease tensions with Muslims in the country.French leaders have termed the incident an Islamist terrorist attack after the perpetrator shouted “Allahu Akbar,” Arabic for “God is great,” as he decapitated a woman and killed two other people.Thursday’s attack followed the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty earlier in October after the republication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad by the Paris-based satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.Macron triggered protests in the Muslim world after the murder of Paty, who showed a cartoon of Muhammad to his class, by saying France would never renounce its right to caricature.On Saturday, though, Macron sounded a more empathetic tone in an interview with Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera.“I can understand that people could be shocked by the caricatures, but I will never accept that violence can be justified,” Macron said.Meanwhile, French authorities detained a third man for questioning Saturday in connection with the Islamist knife attack at the basilica in Nice.The man was present during a police search Friday at the home of a second young Tunisian man suspected of being in contact with the attacker.The main suspect, Ibrahim Issaoui, 21, who went through Italy last month en route to France, remains in critical condition in a French hospital after being wounded by police as they arrested him.France, Tunisia and Italy are jointly investigating to determine the motive for his attack, whether he acted alone and whether his act was premeditated.Issaoui was not on Tunisia’s list of suspected militants and was not known to French intelligence services.Tunisian authorities are reportedly investigating whether a group called the Mahdi Organization carried out the Nice attack. The state news agency TAP reported Friday investigators were also trying to determine whether the group exists and said that the probe is based on claims of responsibility on social media.
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