KARACHI, Pakistan — Pakistan authorities have closed more than 100 restaurants and six wedding halls in the financial capital of Karachi over violations of social distancing rules amid a sudden increase in COVID-19 deaths.
The government has also imposed a lockdown in some of the city’s high-risk areas to contain the spread of the coronavirus. A similar crackdown over social distancing rules has also been ordered in other parts of the country.
Pakistanis have been seen routinely violating social distancing since last month when wedding halls were allowed to open on the condition they adhere to such rules.
Authorities earlier reported 13 out of the country’s 15 single-day COVID-19 fatalities in southern Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital.
Pakistan has reported 313,431 confirmed cases with 6,499 deaths.
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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— Trump says he and first lady tested positive for coronavirus
— US hiring l ikely slowed in September for 3rd straight month
— Pfizer CEO pushes back against Trump claim on vaccine timing
— Democrats controlling the House narrowly have passed a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, a move that came as top-level talks on a smaller, potentially bipartisan measure dragged on toward an uncertain finish.
— Mexican workers have confounded economists by sending home huge sums of money during the coronavirus pandemic. Experts had predicted that as the American economy took a dive, migrant workers would send their families less money, known as remittances.
— Madrid and its suburbs are preparing to enter a soft lockdown that restricts trips in and out of the Spanish capital following a weeks-long political turf fight over Europe’s latest infection hot spot.
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Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia and New Zealand have announced a partial opening of their borders to international travel between the neighboring countries.
Australian Transport Minister Michael McCormack says passengers will be able to fly to Sydney and Darwin without going into quarantine from Oct. 16 if they have spent at least two weeks in parts of New Zealand that are not considered COVID-19 hot spots.
But New Zealand will continue insist on travelers from Australia going into hotel quarantine for two weeks on arrival.
McCormack says, “We want to open up Australia to the world. This is the first part of it.”
The two countries separated by the Tasman Sea have long said that the return of international travel would begin with a so-called Trans-Tasman Bubble. McCormack says Australian authorities have concluded that New Zealand posed a low risk of COVID-19 transmission to Australia.
But travelers who have visited a New Zealand hot spot -- defined as a region that has reported three new infections a day over three days -- won’t be exempt from quarantine.
McCormack says the South Australia state capital Adelaide would likely become the next city to allow quarantine-free travel from New Zealand.
He says when New Zealand would allow quarantine-free travel from Australia is a question for New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Australian states and territories have restricted movement across their borders to reduce the pandemic’s spread, particularly from Victoria state, which has accounted for 802 of the nation’s 888 coronavirus deaths.
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NEW DELHI — India’s COVID-19 fatalities are closing on 100,000 with another 1,095 deaths reported in the past 24 hours.
The update by the Health Ministry on Friday raised India’s death toll to 99,773. Its reported deaths are low for a country with nearly 1.4 billion people and more than 6.3 million confirmed cases, but experts say it may not be counting many fatalities.
The ministry also reported 81,484 new cases.
Total cases jumped from 1 million in mid-July to more than 6 million in less than 2 1/2 months.
New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru are the main urban centers of the infections, accounting for one in every seven confirmed cases and one in every five deaths in the country.
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MANILA, Philippines — Two of the most popular Philippine tourist destinations, including the Boracay beach, have partially reopened with only a fraction of their usual crowds showing up given continuing coronavirus restrictions.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said Friday that 35 local tourists, including seven from Manila, came on the first day of the reopening of Boracay, a central island famous for its powdery white sands, azure waters and stunning sunsets. Only local tourists from regions with low-level quarantine designations could go, subject to safeguards, including tests showing a visitor is coronavirus-free.
The mountain city of Baguio, regarded as a summer hideaway for its pine trees, cool breeze and picturesque upland views, has been reopened to tourists only from its northern region, she told ABS-CBN News.
Despite the urgent need to revive the tourism industry, it’s being done “very slowly, cautiously,” she said, adding mayors and governors would have to approve the reopening of tourism spots. “We really have to be careful,” she said.
Like in most countries, the pandemic has devastated the tourism industry in the Philippines, which now has the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia at more than 314,000, with 5,504 deaths.
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LOS ANGELES -- California’s plan to safely reopen its economy will begin to require counties to bring down coronavirus infection rates in disadvantaged communities that have been harder hit by the pandemic.
The complex new rules announced late Wednesday set in place an “equity metric.”
It will force larger counties to control the spread of COVID-19 in areas where Black, Latino and Pacific Islander groups have suffered a disproportionate share of the cases because of a variety of socioeconomic factors.
Some counties welcomed the news and said it will build on efforts underway. Supporters of a more rapid reopening criticized the measure.
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NEW ORLEANS -- Starting this weekend, New Orleans bars will be allowed to sell drinks to go and restaurants may operate at 75% indoor capacity instead of 50% since a number of coronavirus indicators have stayed low, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said.
The limit for restaurants and other businesses matches the state limit set weeks ago. If all goes well, New Orleans could match all state reopening levels by Oct. 31, with two more possible groups of changes, Cantrell said Thursday at a livestreamed news conference.
Those will depend on public response “ensuring we are a healthy city not only to live in but to visit,” she said.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards let some bars reopen and restaurants and other businesses move to 75% of indoor capacity on Sept. 11. New Orleans, which had shut down bars in July, did not follow suit.
French Quarter and downtown stores cannot sell package liquor outside bars’ state-set hours of 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. because when bars were allowed to reopen earlier, “crowds continued drinking package liquor” after 11 p.m., the mayor said.
Cantrell said the city had closed six businesses as of Wednesday for flouting pandemic restrictions.
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FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Kentucky reported 17 more coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday, one of its highest one-day totals as the state combats an escalating outbreak.
The latest deaths included a 29-year-old woman from Clark County who had “significant underlying health conditions,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. Her death marked the first coronavirus-linked fatality of someone in their 20s to be reported in Kentucky, he said.
The 17 deaths were the fifth-highest daily total in Kentucky since the start of the pandemic, he said.
The state also reported 910 new cases of COVID-19, down from the prior two days when daily case counts topped 1,000, the governor said. The spike in cases is hitting rural and urban areas, and Beshear said the state remains on course to set another record for the number of cases in a week.
“When we have a lot of cases, sadly a lot of death follows,” Beshear said at a news conference.
The Democratic governor continued to stress the need to wear masks in public, maintain social distancing and follow other health guidelines to contain the virus.
“We can turn this escalation around,” he said.
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — South Dakota health officials have reported all-time highs for the toll of the coronavirus with 13 deaths and 747 more people who tested positive.
State epidemiologist Josh Clayton says communities statewide — from cities to rural areas — are seeing significant levels of the virus. He noted that 245 of the infections reported were backlogged from previous days after a reporting error.
One of the largest outbreaks came from a women’s prison in Pierre as mass testing revealed that 29 more women in one housing unit had the virus. A total of 197 prisoners and staff have tested positive and 110 have recovered.
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OKLAHOMA CITY — A mask mandate in Tulsa is being expanded and extended in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The amended measure lowers the age of those who must wear face coverings from 18 and up to those older than 10. It also extends through Jan. 31 the mandate for masks to be worn in public when social distancing is not possible. Previously it was to expire Nov. 30
President Donald Trump held an indoor campaign rally in Tulsa on June 20 that attracted about 6,000 attendees as well as protesters. Local Health Department director Bruce Dart said later that the event “likely contributed” to a sharp surge in new coronavirus cases.
As of Thursday, Oklahoma’s state health department has recorded 88,369 virus cases and 1,035 deaths due to COVID-19, increases of 1,170 and four, respectively, from the previous day.
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DENVER — Colorado’s deadliest workplace coronavirus outbreak has been declared resolved after five months, 291 cases and six deaths.
The determination regarding the outbreak at the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley was made by the state Department of Public Health and Environment after there were no new cases for at least 28 days and an investigation was completed.
The announcement comes as families of some JBS employees who died say their worker’s compensation claims have been denied.
JBS argues that their infections were not work-related. The plant did not respond to requests for comment by Colorado Public Radio.
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PHOENIX — Arizona is reporting 705 additional COVID-19 cases and 24 more deaths as health officials say all 15 counties have cleared state benchmarks for partial reopening of certain businesses.
The overall statewide total of confirmed cases is now 219,212 cases, and the death toll 5,674.
Arizona’s Department of Health Services says the classification of largely rural Graham County improved to “moderate transmission stage.” That made it the final county to meet criteria for reopening businesses such as indoor gyms, bars serving food and movie theaters.
One county, tiny Greenlee in southeastern Arizona, is at “minimal” status, the highest step below normal conditions.
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HELENA, Mont. — Nearly half Montana’s confirmed COVID-19 cases came in September as the state continues to report record numbers of infections.
The state reported 429 cases Thursday, the highest daily total by a margin of 81. Overall there were just over 6,000 in September, or 44% of the 13,500 since mid-March.
The true numbers are thought to be much higher because not everyone has been tested, and studies show people can have COVID-19 without experiencing symptoms.
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BOISE, Idaho — Idaho will remain in the fourth and final stage of Gov. Brad Little’s economic-reopening plan for at least another two weeks as coronavirus infections and deaths rise.
The Republican governor says Idaho will receive 530,000 rapid antigen tests that will be prioritized for schools. Little also announced Thursday the formation of a COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee in anticipation of a vaccine that would be distributed by the federal government.
Stage 4 of Idaho’s plan allows most businesses to open.
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WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials say hospitals bought only about a third of the doses of remdesivir that they were offered over the last few months to treat COVID-19, as the government stops overseeing the drug’s distribution.
Between July and September, 500,000 treatment courses were made available to state and local health departments but only about 161,000 were purchased.
Dr. John Redd of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday that “we see this as a very good sign” that supply now outstrips demand and it’s OK for hospitals to start buying the drug, also known as Veklury, directly from maker Gilead Sciences Inc.
The government will buy some of the excess for the national stockpile.
Several studies suggest remdesivir can shorten time to recovery and hospital stays by four days on average.
At $3,200 per treatment course, its price might be playing a role in the low demand.
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LONDON — A British lawmaker has apologized for travelling to London to attend a coronavirus debate in Parliament despite having COVID-19 symptoms. She also took a train home to Scotland after getting a positive test.
The Scottish National Party suspended Margaret Ferrier after she said that “there is no excuse for my actions” and that she had reported herself to police.
People in Britain are told they must self-isolate if they have COVID-10 symptoms and while they are waiting for a test result.
Also Thursday, Stanley Johnson, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's father, apologized after he was photographed shopping without a face covering.
Britain’s government recently raised fines for not wearing masks in places like stores in a bid to curb a spike in infections.
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HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Republican state lawmaker’s positive test for the coronavirus has prompted legislative leaders to cancel the Pennsylvania House’s voting session.
Human resources workers were deployed to trace Rep. Paul Schemel’s personal contacts to see if others should be quarantined.
He was most recently in the Capitol on Tuesday, and it’s unclear if he wore a mask while in the building’s public spaces.
