Latin America broke through five million confirmed cases of COVID-19, a Reuters tally showed, underscoring the region’s position as the area of the world hardest hit by the pandemic. It has already reported more than 200,000 deaths.
Brazil has reported that coronavirus cases in the country rose by 16,641 to 2,750,318 while deaths rose by 561 to 94,665.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said there might never be a “silver bullet” for the new coronavirus, despite the rush to discover effective vaccines.
More than 18.17 million people around the world have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus as of Monday. More than 10.8 million have recovered, and more than 691,000 have died.
Here are the latest updates:
Tuesday, August 4
02:45 GMT – Australia’s Victoria imposes $3,500 fine for breach of isolation orders
Australia’s second-most populous state Victoria said on Tuesday anyone who has contracted COVID-19 and caught outside their home in breach of isolation orders will face fines of nearly A$5,000 ($3,559.00), according to Reuters news agency.
Victoria state earlier this week imposed a nightly curfew, tightened restrictions on people’s movement and ordered large parts of the local economy to close to slow the spread of coronavirus.
But state Premier Daniel Andrews said nearly a third of those who had contracted COVID-19 were not home when checked on by officials, requiring tough new penalties to stop community transmission.
02:05 GMT – Filipino doctors to Duterte: We never called for revolt
The Philippine capital, Manila, and four nearby provinces have been placed under a new lockdown starting on Tuesday until August 18 [Eloisa Lopez/Reuters]
A organisation representing thousands of doctors in the Philippines has issued a new statement saying they have not called for a revolution against the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The doctors also said that there was no threat from their group to leave patients “since our oath instructs us to first do no harm to anyone who needs our help.”
This after a furious Duterte, dared medical workers early on Monday to “revolt” against him, after they demanded a new lockdown order to help the spread of the coronavirus.
As of the end of Monday, there were over 106,000 cases reported in the Philippines and more than 2,000 deaths. The Philippine capital, Manila, and four nearby provinces have been placed under a new lockdown starting on Tuesday until August 18.
01:50 GMT – Italy reports 159 new coronavirus cases
The number of new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Italy has fallen below 200 for the first time in a week, with 159 new cases registered, according to AP news agency quoting the health ministry.
That brings the total number of cases in Italy to 248,229 and deaths to 35,166 as of the end of Monday.
Lazio, the central region that includes Rome, now has the highest number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in Italy’s 20 regions. Health officials said nine of the region’s new cases were brought by travelers from abroad.
Two clusters of infections have also been traced to popular seaside areas near Rome. Monday figures tend to be lower since they often don’t include tallies from the weekend.
01:26 GMT – Australia’s Victoria reports 439 new coronavirus cases
Australia’s state of Victoria reported at least 439 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday.
Victoria has declared a state of disaster and imposed strict lockdown following the surge in cases of the disease, also known as COVID-19.
Australia has reported over 18,300 cases and 221 deaths.
01:00 GMT – Mexico reports 4,767 new coronavirus cases, 266 more deaths
Mexico’s health ministry has reported 4,767 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 266 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 443,813 cases and 48,012 deaths, according to Reuters news agency.
The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
With more than 48,000 confirmed deaths, Mexico is already the third country in the world with the most deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic [Jorge Núñez/EPA]
00:31 GMT – Hong Kong to build temporary hospitals for COVID-19: report
The South China Morning Post has reported that Hong Kong is planning to build at least two temporary hospitals as part of its response to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
The report said that the temporary hospitals could accommodate as many as 2,400 beds.
The latest development comes as cases continue to rise over the last few days. The city has reported at least 3,589 cases, with 38 related deaths. However, the latest number of cases reported was much lower that previous days, when reported new infections hit over 100 daily.
00:05 GMT – Chief of staff to Brazil’s Bolsonaro tests positive for coronavirus
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s chief of staff, Army General Walter Souza Braga Netto, has tested positive for COVID-19, his office said on Monday, becoming the seventh Brazilian minister to have contracted the disease.
Braga Netto is doing well and has no symptoms, according to Reuters News Agency quoting a statement from the government.
Netto will remain in isolation until a new examination and medical evaluation is carried out, and will continue to work remotely.
Last week, Bolsonaro’s wife and one of his ministers tested positive for COVID-19. Bolsonaro also contracted the disease, but his latest test showed he was no longer infected.
00:01 GMT – Latin America hits five million COVID-19 cases
Latin America has broken through five million confirmed cases of COVID-19, a Reuters tally showed, underscoring the region’s position as the area of the world hardest hit by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The more than 10,000 new cases Colombia’s health ministry reported on Monday pushed the region past the 5 million mark, a day after the Andean nation reported a record 11,470 cases.
Mexico has also racked up record numbers of new confirmed infections in recent days, registering more than 9,000 daily cases for the first time on Saturday, a day after Mexico overtook the UK as the country with the third-highest number of deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The region, which has now topped 200,000 deaths, is struggling to stall the spread of the virus, with infections picking up pace in many countries even as governments look to ease lockdowns and revive economic growth.
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Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Ted Regencia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
For all the key coronavirus-related developments from yesterday, August 3, click here.
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