UK health workers march for fair pay, Germany's travel warning: COVID-19 daily bulletin
Updated 01:15, 09-Aug-2020
Aden-Jay Wood
Europe;

TOP HEADLINES

- Italy has approved a stimulus package to help families and businesses struggling during the pandemic. The $29.5 billion package is intended to help slow the economic contraction in the country, which at 11.2 percent so far this year, is one of the worst in the world. 

- Ukraine is to temporarily close all three crossing points with Crimea as part of measures to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. The points will be closed between 9 August and 30 August, the government announced. 

- Germany's foreign ministry has warned its citizens against unnecessary travel to areas of Bulgaria and Romania because of recent outbreaks of cases. 

- Hundreds took to the streets of London, UK, to march for fair pay for the country's National Health Service staff. More than 30 similar marches were planned all across the UK on Saturday.

- France's popular tourist resort of Saint-Tropez has announced face masks will be mandatory for all outdoors from Saturday. 

- The European Union has removed Morocco from its safe flying list, saying the spike in infections in the country was a concern. The list, which allows non-essential travel for citizens from EU countries to nations outside of the union, now has 10 countries on it including Australia, Canada and South Korea.

- Ireland has announced regional lockdowns in the Kildare, Laois and Offaly regions following a recent spike in infections. 

- Hungary has ordered 5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine under a European Union scheme, its prime minister Viktor Orban has said.

- The daily number of new infections in Italy rose by 38 percent on Friday with 552 new cases reported, the highest daily rise since May.

- The UK has said all schoolchildren over the age of 11 years old will be expected to wear a face mask on school buses when they return to school. The government has also pledged $52 million to improve school transport services. 

- Further face covering regulations come into force in England from Saturday. Coverings are now mandatory in places such as indoor zoos, public areas in hotels, museums and indoor places of worships.

- One in six people in the UK would either be unlikely to, or definitely would not be willing to, have a COVID-19 vaccination if and when one becomes available. Twenty percent of people in the poll carried out by King's College London said they would be fairly likely to have the vaccine. 

- Lockdown measure have been reintroduced in the northern city of Preston, England, in an attempt to halt the spike in infections. The new measures include banning people from different households meeting each other inside homes. 

- Germany will allow some unmarried couples to be reunited for the first time in months. The exemption will apply for partners of German citizens from countries that Germany considers high-risk. Couples must provide proof that they were in a relationship before the pandemic.

Hundreds took to the streets across the UK to march for fair pay for the country's health workers. /AFP

Hundreds took to the streets across the UK to march for fair pay for the country's health workers. /AFP

The advice we've had about wearing masks in school is if they're not competently handled you can actually increase the risk of spreading the virus by having the mask worn all day in the school environment.
 -  Nick Gibb UK government minister

ACROSS EUROPE

Iolo ap Dafydd in London

New quarantine measures and tougher rules on wearing face masks are being implemented in the UK. Preston is the fourth English area to go into a local lockdown. Residents are being asked to take extra precautions after a substantial increase in infections. As in other cities hit by localized lockdowns, people from different households are not allowed to meet in homes or their gardens. 

Face coverings are mandatory in more indoor settings in both England and Scotland. People are advised to wear them on public transport only in Wales and Northern Ireland. The authorities will be able to fine those not wearing masks by up to a £100 ($130).

It is another indication of increasing concerns in the UK that the virus is spreading. More than 46,500 have died and on Friday the R - or reproduction - rate, was estimated to be between 0.8. and 1.0. The committee of scientists advising the government, however, has said it's not confident the R number in England was below one. Infections are higher across all 4 nations of Britain. 

John Bevir in Frankfurt

For the third day in a row there were more than 1,000 new daily coronavirus cases in Germany, with 1,122 confirmed infections. After 3 months of falling rates, there's been a steady rise recently.

From today, passengers returning from around 130 'at risk' countries will have a mandatory COVID-19 test when they arrive in Germany. 

The head of the Association of General Practitioners has criticised the mandatory testing. In an interview with the newspaper Welt, Ulrich Weigeldt said many practices were not equipped for the rush of testing expected and many believed the risk areas were 'far too generalised'.

 

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