Europe battens down against rise in cases

WASHINGTON－With outbreaks across Europe fueling fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections, national governments have tightened restrictions on movement, including border controls aimed at shutting off arrivals from hot spots.

The worldwide death toll stood at 707,754 with 18,814,178 infections on Thursday, according to a tally kept by the Johns Hopkins University.

Europe, which had largely brought the rate of fresh infections down sharply from earlier in the pandemic, has suffered 214,731 deaths, with 3,451,556 infections, as of Thursday, according to the World Health Organization.

Several European countries and cities reimposed tighter restrictions, including a "wake-up week" in Greece and new face mask and quarantine rules elsewhere.

Announcing the reintroduction of restrictions in Greece, a government spokesman Stelios Petsas told Mega TV on Wednesday:"We are trying to awaken people with messages and daily announcements on additional measures," citing travel, social gatherings and public transport as major concerns for the virus' spread.

In the United Kingdom, the official coronavirus death toll stood at 46,299 on Wednesday. Restrictions reimposed on the northeastern Scottish city of Aberdeen included the closure of all indoor and outdoor hospitality venues from Wednesday evening as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon referred to what could become a "significant outbreak."

Across Scotland, Sturgeon said 18,781 people have tested positive for the virus, up by 64 from the day before.

Toulouse, in southwest France, made face masks compulsory, with more French cities expected to follow suit.

And Germany included Belgium's Antwerp Province on its list of regions requiring arriving travelers to quarantine for 14 days unless they can show a negative virus test.

In Belgium, one of the country's biggest meat-processing plants, Westvlees, sent 225 staff home to quarantine after a cluster of coronavirus cases was discovered.

Switzerland added mainland Spain to a quarantine list of 46 countries as well as Singapore and Romania.

In the Netherlands, similar mask-wearing measures came into force in Rotterdam and in some busy neighborhoods of Amsterdam, including its famous red-light district.

The US tallied a further 1,262 deaths and 53,158 new cases on Wednesday, marking 157,930 total deaths and more than 4.8 million cases. It remains by far the worst-hit country.

In the new epicenter Florida, the state surpassed 500,000 coronavirus cases on Wednesday as testing ramped up following a temporary shutdown of some sites because of tropical storm Isaias, Florida's state officials said.

In Arizona, more than 500 inmates－almost half of the population－at a prison have tested positive for COVID-19, local prison officials have said.

Biggest increase

In Asia, India on Wednesday recorded the biggest single-day rise in fatalities, at 904, for the latest 24-hour period, as fresh infections surged by a further 56,282 cases to approach 2 million.

The health ministry said the total number of deaths had reached 40,699, with 20,000 of them logged over the past 30 days.

The ministry said the recovery rate for infected patients had improved to 67 percent from 63 percent over the past 14 days. Nearly 600,000 patients are still undergoing treatment.

The case fatality stands at 2.09 percent of infections.

In Africa, South Africa's health minister on Wednesday reported decreasing rates of new confirmed cases but warned that vigilance must continue "to prevent a renewed surge".

South Africa had 521,318 cases as of Thursday, the fifth highest in the world and more than half of all reported cases in Africa, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

So far, the country has recorded 9,298 deaths, although studies of excess mortality rates indicate the actual toll could be higher.

The rapid spread of infections in poor, overcrowded urban centers in Cape Town, Johannesburg and other cities threatened to overwhelm public hospitals, but the country's health minister said that the health system has been able to cope.

Agencies - Xinhua