India closing coronavirus gap with US, where CDC sees glimmer of hope

NEW DELHI－In India, the country second worst-hit by COVID-19, the number of confirmed cases surpassed 5,400,000 on Sunday morning, with 86,752 deaths, the health ministry said.

India has been reporting the highest single-day rise in the world every day for more than five weeks and is expected to surpass the United States as the pandemic's worst-hit country within weeks.

A new forecast has projected up to 218,000 COVID-19 deaths in the US by Oct 10, as the number of cases in the country has topped 6.7 million.

"Forecasts predict that over the next four weeks the number of newly reported deaths per week may decrease in six jurisdictions," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, said on Thursday.

Trends in numbers of future reported deaths are uncertain or predicted to remain stable in the other states and territories, it said.

By Sunday afternoon there had been 30,794,731 confirmed cases worldwide, with 957,192 deaths, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, said.

Britain's Health Minister Matt Hancock said on Sunday that the country is at a tipping point on COVID-19, and that a second national lockdown could be imposed if people do not follow government rules designed to stop the spread of the virus.

COVID-19 cases have risen sharply in recent weeks to more than 4,000 a day, and the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has warned a second wave is "inevitable". Stricter lockdown measures are being introduced in areas across the country.

"The nation faces a tipping point, and we have a choice," Hancock said. "The choice is either that everybody follows the rules… or we will have to take more measures."

Johnson announced fines of up to $13,000 on Saturday for those in England who break new rules requiring them to self-isolate if they have been in contact with someone infected with COVID-19.

Minister infected

In France on Saturday nearly 13,500 new infections were reported in 24 hours, with Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire among those infected, bringing the total to 442,194.

Le Maire announced on Friday that he had tested positive with no symptoms and was working during self-isolation. He is the fourth French minister to test positive.

In Paris, the prefecture police warned that there will be no more tolerance for bars and restaurants where rules to counter the virus are not respected, such as standing at counters or failing to respect social distancing. Police "are intensifying" checks that can lead to closing establishments, it said. In one Paris district, 13 establishments were formally notified that they risk being shut down and 16 others were fined, the prefecture said.

The cities of Bordeaux, Marseille and Nice, classified as red zones, have banned public gatherings of 10 people in parks and beaches and reduced public-event attendance numbers from 5,000 to 1,000. People are urged to limit their visits to nursing homes, and not to eat and drink in bars while standing.

Xinhua - Agencies