COVID-19: What you need to know about coronavirus on 30 June
A woman in a face mask tends her lettuce patch in Havana, Cuba. Image: REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini
- This daily round-up brings you a selection of the latest news updates on the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, as well as tips and tools to help you stay informed and protected.
- Top stories: confirmed cases reach 10 million, lockdowns are being reinstated, and the WHO warns that the pandemic is actually speeding up.
1. How COVID-19 is affecting the globe
- Exactly six months after coronavirus was first reported to the WHO, confirmed cases have surpassed 10.3 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 505,000 people are known to have died from the virus, while over 5.2 million are known to have recovered.
- The WHO is sending experts to China to investigate the source of the virus.
- Lockdowns are returning in several Indian states, 10 areas around Melbourne and the English city of Leicester, after cases increase.
- India's first COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been approved for human trials.
- At least 12 US states are putting back plans to reopen as cases continue to rise in the US.
- The EU has finalized its 'safe travel' list of 14 countries whose citizens can be allowed in from 1 July. It includes Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco and South Korea.
- Researchers in China have found a new virus in pigs that could cross to humans with 'pandemic potential'.
2. WHO: Pandemic is not even close to being over
In a media briefing on 29 June, the World Health Organization's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reflected on the six-month anniversary of the outbreak.
"The critical question that all countries will face in the coming months is how to live with this virus. That is the new normal," he said.
"The hard reality is: this is not even close to being over. Although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up."
He listed the five priorities that every country must focus on to save lives:
1. Empower communities to understand what they can do to stay healthy: from hand hygiene and physical distancing, to wearing masks when appropriate and staying home if you feel sick.
2. Suppress transmission by improving surveillance to find cases: Tracing and quarantining contacts is the "single-most important intervention for breaking chains of transmission".
3. Save lives through early identification and clinical care, such as providing oxygen and dexamethasone to people with severe and critical cases, and looking after high-risk groups. Dr Tedros praised Japan for having a low death rate, given its elderly population.
4. Accelerate research: "We've learned a lot about this virus, but there's still a lot we don't know."
5. Strong political leadership: "National unity and global solidarity are essential to implementing a comprehensive strategy to suppress transmission, save lives and minimize the social and economic impact of the virus."
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3. Swiss study of soldiers shows social distancing slows spread of virus
A study of soldiers in Switzerland has found that social distancing and strict hygiene measures are effective in reducing the transmission of COVID-19 and its severity.
Researchers looked at 508 soldiers, who were mostly male with a median age of 21, before and after social distancing was implemented.
Thirty percent of the 354 soldiers who were infected before social distancing started fell ill. In a group of 154 soldiers, where infections appeared after social distancing began, no one developed COVID-19 - even though the virus was detected in their noses.
The scientists concluded: "Social distancing not only can slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in a cohort of young, healthy adults but can also prevent the outbreak of COVID-19 while still inducing an immune response and colonizing nasal passages.
"Viral inoculum during infection or mode of transmission may be key factors determining the clinical course of COVID-19."
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