Coronavirus news – live: Shoppers risk fines as face masks become mandatory in England on 24 July
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Matt Hancock will announce on Tuesday that face coverings will become mandatory mandatory in English shops from 24 July, with shoppers risking a £100 fine if they fail to comply.
The prime minister – who was first pictured wearing a mask only days ago – said: “The scientific evaluation of face coverings and their importance on stopping aerosol droplets, that’s been growing, so I do think that in shops it is very important to wear a face covering if you’re going to be in a confined space and you want to protect other people and receive protection in turn.”
His comments came as three people escaped quarantine at a Herefordshire farm – where 200 staff members had been ordered to isolate after 74 infections were identified. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation warned that the coronavirus pandemic had the potential to get “worse and worse and worse” if countries do not follow basic healthcare guidance.
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California shuts down all bars
California Governor Gavin Newsom has ordered the state-wide closure of all bars after a surge in coronavirus cases.
Indoor activities at restaurants, wineries, movie theaters, and family entertainment venues will also have to close down.
The tighter restrictions in California follow a further 8,358 confirmed cases of coronavirus on Sunday.
Hospitalisations have also increased by 28 per cent over the past two weeks.
The governor had ordered several counties to close bars and indoor operations at restaurants and other venues on 1 July.
That order has now been extended statewide, and there are further restrictions on gyms, churches and hair salons in 30 of the worst-hit counties.
Jailed Egyptian journalist dies of coronavirus
A prominent Egyptian journalist who had been jailed on charges of broadcasting false news has died of Covid-19, according to an international press watchdog.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that Mohamed Monir, 65, contracted coronavirus in pre-trial detention and was released after falling ill in custody.
"Even brief detentions amid the COVID-19 pandemic can mean a death sentence," the group said in a statement.
Diaa Rashwan, head of the Egyptian Journalists' Syndicate, confirmed Monir's death in a Facebook post, saying they were in touch during his final moments in the hospital. Monir died in an isolation unit at a hospital outside Cairo.
Monir was arrested and taken to Cairo's Tora prison complex last month after appearing on Al-Jazeera TV, a Qatari-owned channel banned by Egypt's government
Latin America coronavirus deaths exceed North America for first time
Latin America had by Monday seen at least 144,680 deaths so far, compared to 143,847 deaths in North America - comprising Canada and the US - according to a Reuters tally.
The first confirmed cases of the virus in the Americas came within a day of each other in late February, first in Canada and then the US and Mexico. Initially, North America suffered a more rapid escalation in reported case numbers.
However, Latin America struggled to contain the spread of the virus once it left the more affluent neighbourhoods where it was first detected, usually in those who had travelled abroad. A problematic combination of widespread poverty, informal labor, and poor healthcare, particularly in remote areas, contributed to the spread.
The leaders of the region's two most populated countries, Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro and Mexico's Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, initially dismissed the severity of the virus.
The US remains the individual country with the most overall deaths - 135,055 - followed by Brazil at 72,100.
Reuters
As face masks become an increasing part of daily life, with their usage becoming steadily more compulsory in the UK, IndyBest has this comprehensive guide of everything to consider when purchasing a face covering.
Breaking: Face coverings to be compulsory in English shops from 24 July
Health secretary Matt Hancock will announce on Tuesday that failure to cover up the nose and mouth while inside a store – including supermarkets – will be punishable by a fine of up to £100, our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports.
The rules will not require the use of a medical mask, which ministers want to preserve for frontline health staff. The announcement brings England in line with Scotland, which made face coverings mandatory in shops on 10 July, and follows the decision to require their use on public transport in England from 15 June.
It comes just days after Boris Johnson was photographed for the first time wearing a mask – bought for £2 from Poundstretcher – to cover his nose and mouth during a visit to a store.
Nearly 1,000 US immigration detention centre employees test positive for coronavirus
More than 880 employees of private contractors running US immigration detention facilities have tested positive for the virus, according to congressional testimony given by company executives.
The heads of four companies contracted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain immigrants - CoreCivic, The GEO Group, Management & Training Corporation (MTC) and LaSalle Corrections - gave the figures when asked by politicians.
ICE has reported just 45 cases of Covid-19 among its direct staff at detention facilities, as politicians raise concerns about the spread of the virus inside nearly 70 centres across the country. More than 3,000 detainees have tested positive for Covid-19, though some have recovered or been released. Two detainees have died with the virus.
House Committee on Homeland Security chair, Kathleen Rice, said there had been reports among employees of rationing of personal protective equipment, inadequate medical care and delayed testing.
There are currently nearly 22,580 detainees in ICE custody, a dramatic drop from the more than 50,000 migrants detained on average daily during the 2019 fiscal year.
Town centres across England 'may never recover from Covid-19 crisis'
Labour has warned that town centres across England may never recover from the coronavirus crisis, with a £10bn-plus black hole in council finances meaning the closure of libraries, swimming pools, museums and galleries and a sharp reduction in support for economic development, our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports.
Meanwhile, shadow communities secretary Steve Reed warned that government changes to planning rules could see empty shops snapped up by developers for conversion into flats, permanently depriving high streets of retail premises.
With revenues hit and demand on services increased as a result of Covid-19, a number of local authorities are “on the brink of bankruptcy”, which would trigger an immediate requirement for in-year spending cuts to deliver a balanced budget, he said.
Mr Reed called on communities secretary Robert Jenrick to beef up financial support for councils, warning that the £3.7bn allocated so far falls well short of the £10-£13bn cost to local authorities of fighting coronavirus estimated by the Local Government Association. At the outset of the pandemic in March, Mr Jenrick vowed that the government would do “whatever is necessary” to help councils support their local economies.
Voices: Too few women are at the top in government, and it shows in post-coronavirus policy
"Representation matters. A government made up overwhelmingly by men has created policies which do not reflect women’s needs," writes Izzi Coombes, a volunteer for RegistHERtoVote.
"It’s not to say that women haven’t been involved in the government’s Covid response at all. Deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries played a huge role in providing medical information to the government and to the public, but the representation of women has been generally abysmal. Policy, and in turn women, have suffered because of it.
"From the inconvenient to the life-threatening, a lack of thought for the realities of women’s lives has resulted in coronavirus policies that make women less safe and less economically secure. A government with a 50:50 gender split is a government more likely to ask, how will these policies affect everyone, including women? That is something that this government has failed to do. Political representation matters, now more than ever."
France gives health workers €8bn in pay rises in response to coronavirus
After seven weeks of negotiations, prime minister Jean Castex and union leaders signed the deal, which the former hailed as a “historic moment for our health system”.
Health and care workers will see their wages rise by an average of $183 under the agreement – €450m of which has been ring-fenced as a bonus for medics in the public sector, in a bid to draw health staff from the employ of private companies.
“This is first of all recognition of those who have been on the front line in the fight against this epidemic,” said Mr Castex.
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