Tokyo, Japan governor wins second term
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has won a second term to head the Japanese capital, propelled to an election victory by public support for her handling of the coronavirus crisis despite a recent rise in infections that has raised concerns of a resurgence of the disease.
Mexico records 4,683 new cases
Mexican health authorities reported 4,683 confirmed new infections of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, pushing its tally to a total of 256,848, and 273 more deaths to a total of 30,639.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez Gatell has repeatedly said that the actual number of both infections and associated death is probably significantly higher.
Tony-winning Broadway actor Nick Cordero has died after a gruelling battle with coronavirus, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Cordero, who starred in Bullets Over Broadway, Waitress and A Bronx Tale the Musical, was 41 years old:
Since being diagnosed with what was thought to be pneumonia in late March, the Canadian actor spent weeks in intensive care at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, had his right leg amputated, lost more than 60 pounds and was hoping to receive a double-lung transplant.
Residents in nine housing towers now in hard lockdown in Melbourne say they have been forced to establish their own support network rather than rely on the government for essential supplies or information.
“Last night by 2am some houses still didn’t have food delivered,” said Ahmed Dini, a resident of the North Melbourne towers and a social worker.
“I think there is a lot of anger towards the DHHS. At the moment there is more anger towards DHHS than the police because they promised they were going to have food delivered, that they were going to have essentials delivered.”
When food was delivered, many were missing staples like bread or milk, with large families asked to share small boxes. Seven News published a video of one tower resident sorting through the expired food he was given, stating that one item had a use-by date from 2019.
Lebanon on Sunday hosted its annual music festival in the ancient northeastern city of Baalbek without an audience for the first time ever, in a move organisers dubbed an act of cultural resilience to the global coronavirus pandemic as well as the country’s unprecedented economic meltdown, AFP reports.
Held amid soaring Roman columns, the Baalbek International Festival was founded in 1956. This year, it’s being broadcast on local and regional TV stations and live-streamed on social media in an effort “to spread unity and hope.”
The concert with 150 musicians and choral singers opened with the national anthem followed by O Fortuna from the cantata Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. It included a mix of classical music, including Beethoven and Verdi, as well as tunes from Lebanon’s Rahbani brothers composers and beloved Lebanese singer Fairouz.
Lebanese watching the 55-minute show at home posted nostalgic sentiments on social media about bygone days that have been replaced by an economic crisis and growing poverty and hunger.
“It is as if we are saying farewell to the Lebanon we knew and dreamed of,” said economist and political activist Jad Chaaban on Twitter.
Jad Chaaban جاد شعبان
(@JadChaaban)Requiem for a small broken nation.
Lebanon is currently being shaken by a severe economic and financial crisis, made worse in recent months by the coronavirus and lockdown restrictions. The financial crisis is rooted in decades of systematic corruption and mismanagement by Lebanon’s ruling elite, who critics say refuse to reform despite a nationwide uprising that erupted last October and a rapidly deteriorating economy.
As many as 13 British universities could face financial disaster from the after-effects of the coronavirus outbreak, affecting one in 20 students in the UK and causing steep job cuts, according to research.
Estimates by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that the UK higher education sector will endure losses ranging between £3bn to £19bn in 2020-21, with the exact size of the losses dependent on how many students decide not to enrol.
The IFS calculates that pension obligations and investment losses caused by the economic downturn will also have a major impact on university balance sheets over the next four years.
Universities will be unable to recoup their losses through cost-cutting unless they also make “significant” numbers of staff redundant, the research found.
Peru cases pass 300,000
Peru on Sunday jumped past 300,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, the fifth-highest in the world, as the Andean nation of nearly 33 million people slowly reopens its battered economy.
The South American copper producer, which locked down in March against the virus but struggled to enforce a nationwide quarantine in the face of rising economic hardship, trails only Brazil in the region in terms of case numbers.
Peru’s death toll from the virus now stands at 10,589, the 10th-highest in the world.
President Martín Vizcarra’s government has eased restrictions this month to allow economic growth to revive, including the key mining sector. Peru is the world’s second-largest producer of copper.
Coronavirus cases rose by 3,638 on Sunday to 302,718, although new daily cases have slowed from peak levels in May and June. Health experts fear a potential flare-up, however, with more people on the streets as the lockdown eases.
Shopping malls have opened their doors with a limited number of visitors and the government is preparing biosafety protocols to restart domestic air and land transport from mid-July.
Iran suffers record one-day deaths
Iran has introduced compulsory face masks in public spaces after the government admitted its efforts to introduce effective voluntary social distancing have failed.
The latest figures published by the Iranian health ministry on Sunday showed a record 163 had died in the past 24 hours, higher than any daily figure in the country over the course of the pandemic so far.
India reports record one-day increase in coronavirus cases
India registered a record daily number of coronavirus cases and opened a sprawling treatment centre in the capital to fight the pandemic on Sunday. The health ministry reported just under 25,000 cases and 613 deaths in 24 hours – the biggest daily spike since the first case was detected in late January.
In the capital New Delhi, medical staff started treating patients at a spiritual centre converted into a sprawling isolation facility and hospital with 10,000 beds, many made of cardboard and chemically coated to make them waterproof.
About the size of 20 football fields, the facility on the outskirts of the city will treat mild symptomatic and asymptomatic cases.
State government officials fear Delhi, home to 25 million people, could record more than half-a-million cases by the end of the month. The city has repurposed some hotels to provide hospital care. It is also converting wedding halls and has several hundred modified railway coaches standing by.
A strict lockdown in place since late March has gradually been lifted, allowing most activities after the economy nose-dived during the shutdown.
Schools, metro trains in cities, cinemas, gyms and swimming pools remain closed and international flights are still grounded.
Authorities have made wearing masks mandatory in public places, while large gatherings are banned and shops and other public establishments are required to implement social distancing.