Coronavirus news – live: Face coverings will not be made in compulsory in shops, Michael Gove says as Herefordshire farm in lockdown
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Your support makes all the difference.Face coverings will not be made mandatory in shops, Michael Gove said – two days after Boris Johnson hinted that England could copy Scotland by introducing the rule.
The cabinet office minister also stepped up calls for people to return to work following reports that the government was set to ease restrictions on using public transport.
It came as a Herefordshire farm went into lockdown after 73 vegetable pickers tested positive for coronavirus. The 200 staff are being kept in isolation in mobile homes at the site.
Meanwhile Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would be prepared to impose a border quarantine with England to prevent the spread of the virus if necessary, though there were no “immediate plans” to do so.
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French friendly marks first return of crowd to European sport
The roar of fans could be heard at a football game for the first time since the coronavirus shut down sports and chased away spectators as Paris Saint-Germain played Le Havre in a French friendly.
Only 5,000 people were allowed inside Le Havre's 25,000-seat Stade Oceane to see the French League 2 club take on PSG's star-studded squad. Upper tiers of seating were empty.
Spectators had to wear face masks to get into the arena, although many then took them off once settled in their seats. Families and friends sat together in groups but groups stayed separated.
Ball carriers wore masks and gloves. Loudspeakers broadcast appeals for social distancing. Pitch-side photographers were made to step with their shoes into trays of disinfectant.
Lebanon sees record spike as 133 Syrian workers quarantined
A Lebanese waste management company is quarantining 133 Syrian workers who tested positive for the coronavirus, the company manager said on Sunday, as the country recorded a new daily high for infections.
The health ministry said a total of 166 new cases had been confirmed in the last 24 hours.
Lebanon has recorded more than 2,000 infections and 36 deaths from the coronavirus since February.
"The number will remain high this week," Health Minister Hamad Hassan said. "To reassure people, the source is known," he added in comments to national broadcaster LBC.
Ireland reports zero fatalities
No new coronavirus-related death have been reported in Ireland on Sunday, leaving the total at 1,746, the National Public Health Emergency Team said.
As of midnight on 11 July, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) had been notified of 17 confirmed cases of Covid-19.
There is now a total of 25,628 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.
Local outbreaks of Covid-19 among workers at a courier service in northern Italy and among migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea have helped swell an increase in the nation's daily new cases.
Calabria, which in recent days had been registering a couple or even no new daily coronavirus infections, had 28 new cases on Sunday, stemming from as many infections among nearly 800 migrants rescued from human traffickers' boats and brought to that region.
The region's governor Jole Santelli called on the national government to safeguard the local population by requisitioning navy boats going forward and keeping rescued migrants offshore until they can be tested for coronavirus infection.
In the Emilia-Romagna region, 71 cases were registered on Sunday, according to the Health Ministry, a sizable jump from recent days, reflecting a hot spot of infections at a major courier service in Bologna.
In contrast, Lombardy, which during the pandemic saw daily new cases loads far over 1,000, registered 77 cases on Sunday.
With the latest 234 cases nationwide, Italy now has 243,061 known cases. With nine deaths tallied on Sunday, the overall confirmed death toll is 34,954. Authorities say the actual number of cases and deaths is certainly higher.
NFU says farming has seen 'significant investment' in Covid-19 response amid outbreak
The National Farmer's Union (NFU) has reached out to reassure the public after around 200 workers at a farm in Herefordshire were quarantined following an outbreak of Covid-19.
A spokeswoman for the union said: "The industry takes this issue incredibly seriously and everything is being done to keep workers safe; their health and safety remains the priority.
"Across the sector there have been significant investments this season; from the use of additional safety equipment and PPE, regularly testing temperatures, and following government guidance created specifically for seasonal workers."
Trump's education secretary attempts to placate public on risk of returning children to school
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is attempting to reassure the public over the risk of sending kids back to school despite surging coronavirus cases in many parts of the US.
Speaking in Sunday TV interviews, Ms DeVos stressed that children attending school in the autumn should be the rule, not the exception.
She asserted that "there's nothing in the data that suggests that kids being in school is in any way dangerous."
But she was contradicted by public health experts who said the virus can still be dangerous to the young, even if the risk is lower. Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University, said on "Fox News Sunday" that science is also unclear on how much children can spread the disease to more vulnerable adults.
Ms DeVos said the Trump administration is looking at "all the options" for pulling funding from schools if they don't provide full-time in person learning, calling American investment in education "a promise to students and their families."
She described Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance for keeping schools safe, such as face coverings and social distancing, as "guidelines" meant to be flexible.
Mexico to overtake Italy for fatalities to become nation with fourth worst death toll
Mexico's death toll from the coronavirus pandemic is poised to overtake Italy's and shoot above 35,000, with the Latin American nation set to post the world's fourth highest deaths total, according to Reuters data.
Mexico on Saturday recorded539 additional fatalities to bring its coronavirus toll to 34,730, with 295,268 confirmed cases. Italy has recorded 34,945 deaths and 242,827 cases.
While Italy appears to have tamed the virus, the pandemic is showing no signs of slowing down in Mexico, where the government has faced criticism for reopening its economy too soon.
Mexican authorities have gradually raised the projections of total fatalities and as recently as June forecast up to 35,000 deaths through October. In early May, the estimate was 6,000.
The coronavirus death toll per million residents in Mexico, whose population numbers about 120 million, is the 16th highest in the world, according to data by research firm Statista.
Florida epidemiologist calls for more testing to control virus amid case spike
A Florida epidemiologist has said more testing should be carried out after the region recorded that largest spike of any US state since the beginning of the pandemic.
"I still think we need to increase our testing a little bit more," said University of Florida epidemiologist Dr. Cindy Prins, adding that the state and local health departments should ramp up their contact tracing.
Dr Prins said that she's still concerned about large crowds, gyms and some restaurants as being places of mass transmission. Reports of illegal clubs and raves in South Florida are also a worry, she said.
"I really do think we could control this, and it's the human element that is so critical. It should be an effort of our country. We should be pulling together when we're in a crisis, and we're definitely not doing it," she said.
"I know people want to live their lives. There have been a lot of other times, people have made those sacrifices in order to benefit our society. It's almost like a war effort. That's what we need right now."
Trump administration: 'We were wrong about masks'
US surgeon general Jerome Adams has said the Trump administration is "trying to correct" its guidance from earlier in the coronavirus epidemic after saying the wearing of face coverings was not necessary.
With virus cases surging and many states and cities now issuing orders to wear masks in public, Dr Adams said he and other administration officials were wrong back in March. But he insists they were going with the scientific knowledge at the time, which suggested that people with Covid-19 who showed no symptoms were not likely to spread the virus.
Dr Adams said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that "once upon a time, we prescribed cigarettes for asthmatics and leeches and cocaine and heroin for people as medical treatments. When we learned better, we do better."
Dr Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University, told "Fox News Sunday" that he would have liked to have seen administration officials wear masks sooner. He says it should not be viewed as a "personal choice" but a public health imperative.
Trump was seen wearing a mask in public for the first time Saturday during a visit to a military hospital.
Boots staff face redundancy after taking on coronavirus testing jobs
Ministers have been urged to act amid fears staff who took on dangerous roles at coronavirus testing sites could lose their jobs.
Boots employees have helped to man drive-in government test centres across the UK as part of the fight against the global pandemic.
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