SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has recorded 60-plus COVID-19 cases for a third consecutive day, a continuation of a virus spread beyond the greater Seoul area.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday it has confirmed 61 additional cases, bringing the national total to 13,091. It says the death toll remained at 283.
The agency says 43 of the newly reported cases were locally infected patients. All but two of those cases were either from the Seoul metropolitan area or two central cities, Gwangju and Daejeon. The remaining 18 cases were linked to international arrivals.
South Korea has been grappling with an uptick in new infections since it eased social distancing rules in early May. South Korea recorded 63 new cases on both Saturday and Friday.
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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— Pubs and hair salons are back in Britain and while many are welcoming the easing of the lockdown, some still have concerns about the virus.
— An Independence Day like no other: This year, July Fourth comes at a time when Americans are more divided than ever.
— While many July Fourth celebrations across the U.S. are subdued this year, President Donald Trump has promised a “special evening” in Washington that could bring tens of thousands to the National Mall.
— Will the Sun Belt remain gripped by doubt and uncertainty for months or years? A look at the economic impact of the pandemic on business owners, workers, consumers and home buyers.
—With many U.S. nursing homes locked down to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks, officials are issuing reminders that those $1,200 stimulus checks belong to residents.
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Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
BOZEMAN, Mont. — A Montana newspaper reports that the wife and the running mate of Republican governor candidate Greg Gianforte, as well as several other top GOP officials, were possibly exposed to the coronavirus while attending an event with the girlfriend of President Donald Trump’s oldest son.
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle says Gianforte’s wife, Susan, lieutenant governor candidate Kristen Juras and other Montana Republican officials were at a Trump fundraising event Wednesday in Gallatin County with Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr.
The New York Times reports that Guilfoyle was diagnosed with the coronavirus on Friday.
Greg Gianforte is Montana’s representative in the U.S. House. He did not attend the event.
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BEIJING — Chinese officials have reported eight new confirmed COVID-19 cases as a recent outbreak in Beijing appears to have largely run its course.
China’s capital had two new cases, the seventh straight day of single-digit increase. Authorities have confirmed 334 infections during the city’s outbreak, which was detected about three weeks ago and is the largest in the country since March. No deaths have been reporte.
Beijing government spokesperson Xu Hejian said at a news conference Saturday that the situation “keeps improving and is completely controllable.”
The six cases outside Beijing were people arriving from abroad. Three were in Gansu province in the country’s northwest.
China has reported 83,553 confirmed cases and 4,634 deaths since the pandemic began. Its case count does not include people who test positive for the coronavirus but show no symptoms.
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AUSTIN, Texas — Texas has reported its biggest daily increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases — 8,258. Hospitalizations also continue to climb.
Much of Texas began mandating face coverings Friday on the orders of Gov. Greg Abbott. The mask order carries a $250 fine. The order is the most dramatic about-face that Abbott has made as he retreats from what stood out as one of America’s swiftest reopenings.
Texas health officials on Saturday said the state’s total number of confirmed coronavirus cases is now at 191,790. State health officials also reported 33 additional deaths linked to COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. That brings Texas’ total to 2,608 deaths. Hospitalizations stood at 7,890 on Saturday, an increase of 238 from Friday.
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BERLIN — The World Health Organization says it is ending a trial into whether anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine helps patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
WHO said Saturday it has “accepted the recommendation” from the committee overseeing the trial to discontinue testing of hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir, a drug combination used to treat HIV/AIDS. The drugs were being compared with standard care for hospitalized patients.
WHO says a review of the interim results showed hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir “produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients when compared to standard of care.”
The agency adds that while there was no “solid evidence” of increased mortality for hospitalized patients given the drugs, there were “some associated safety signals in the clinical laboratory findings” of an associated trial.
WHO says the decision won’t affect possible trials on patients who aren’t hospitalized, or on those receiving the drugs before potential exposure to the coronavirus or shortly afterward.
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BERLIN — The World Health Organization says member states reported more than 212,000 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to the global body Saturday, the highest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic.
The Geneva-based WHO said the highest number of new infections was reported from the Americas region, which includes the United States and Brazil, with almost 130,000 confirmed cases.
The WHO count may differ from other global case counts due to delays in formal reporting.
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ORLANDO, Fla. A week before the first Walt Disney World theme park reopened for the first time since March, 3 government firefighters from the theme park’s personal government took the COVID-19 test, union officials said Saturday.
Up to 10 other firefighters for the Reedy Creek Improvement District are in quarantine, said Tim Stromsnes, an official with the Reedy Creek Fire Rescue IAFF Local 211.
The 205-member Reedy Creek Fire Department has under 140 firefighters.
Firefighters are disappointed that they are expected to use on days of poor health or quarantined paid vacation. They also stated that Disney’s personal government had misinterpreted its coronavirus policies and informed other firefighters from their health-challenged colleagues.
“They can’t handle COVID in the chimney department. How will visitors to Reedy Creek be?” Stromsnes says.
A spokeswoman for the Reedy Creek Improvement District didn’t respond to an email inquiry on Saturday.
Two theme parks, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, are expected to reopen next Saturday for the first time since the coronavirus closes in March. The resort’s two theme parks, Epcot and Hollywood Studios, are open 4 days later.
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LA PAZ, Bolivia – The growing number of COVID-19 deaths is overwhelming the Bolivian city of Cochabamba, where desperate relatives of an obvious victim of the new coronavirus left their coffin in the street for several hours on Saturday to protest the difficulties of burying it. . Training
Neighbor Remberto Arnez said the 62-year-old man died on June 28 and that his body had been home ever since, “but it is difficult because of the contagion imaginable.”
After a few hours, the funeral agents got up and took the coffin to a cemetery.
Police Colonel Ivón Rojas said at a press convention that the city collects “about 17 bodies a day. This is collapsing the police force of workers and funerals” in the city of approximately 630,000 people.
The Andean country reported that more than 36,800 showed COVID-19 and 1,320 deaths.
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NEW YORK – The coronavirus has prevented the Fourth of July celebrations in New York, but some things have remained the same. Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo rehearsed as male and female champions in the famous hot dog contest on Saturday, July 4.
Chestnut slaughtered 75 sausages and buns in 10 minutes and Sudo sacrificed 48 1/2 at a festival held in an unknown location with no spectators in person. Both hot dog totals were world records. “I’m still pushing for a record,” Chestnut said before the contest aired on a live, sports-hungry ESPN.
New Yorkers have been suggested to hold giant festive meetings in the event of an outbreak of coronavirus cases, as other states see.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said there were more than 720 new confirmed coronavirus cases reported Friday statewide, and 11 deaths were attributed to the virus.
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PHILADELPHIA – In Philadelphia, descendants dressed in the mask and gloves of The signatories of the Declaration of Independence participated in a Rite of Liberty Bell pats at Independence Mall on July 4.
Originally called State House Bell, known as Liberty Bell in the 1830s as a symbol of the abolitionist motion and has since been used as a symbol through other teams advocating for reasons such as women’s suffrage and civil rights.
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St. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Fourth of July holiday began on Saturday with exhilarating figures in the sunshine state: Florida has recorded a record number of other people who tested positive for coronavirus.
State fitness officials have reported 11,445 new instances, a one-day record since the pandemic began earlier this year. The most recent count raises the total number of instances in the state to more than 190,000. An online page through the Ministry of Health shows 245 hospitalizations more similar to the outbreak.
Local officials and fitness experts fear that others will meet over the holiday weekend and transmit the virus through close contact. They tried to mitigate propagation through statewide end bars. Some regional attractions, such as the Miami Zoo and Jungle Island, have closed. Universal Studios in Orlando is open.
Mayor Carlos Giménez closed the beaches of Miami-Dade County over the weekend. The boroughs of South Florida, from Vero Beach to Broward County, did the same. The beaches of the Florida Keys are closed. Public beaches along Pinellas County’s 35 miles of sand are open.
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ROME – For the fifth day in a row, the number of new instances of coronavirus in Italy has increased.
The Ministry of Health said Saturday that 235 new cases of coronavirus infections had been reported since the previous day. Overall, the known number of coronavirus cases in Italy amounts to more than 241400, the government says many infections of others with mild or nonexistent symptoms have probably not been detected.
On Saturday there was a sharp increase in the number of infections, from 27 to 51, in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna, whose coastal cities attract tourists.
The Lazio region, which includes Rome, also registered a steep rise in confirmed infections, 31, compared to 11 new cases a day earlier. The city has been trying to discourage groups of young people from mingling outdoors on summer nights to drink without keeping a safe distance apart despite not wearing masks.
There were 21 deaths registered nationwide, raising the known death toll in the pandemic to 34,854.
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ATHENS, Greece — Greek authorities announced Saturday that there were 25 new confirmed coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, but no fatalities.
Eight of the 25 new cases of incoming tourists, who are being tested upon arrival in the country, the government said.
The number of cases shown was more than 3500, while the number of deaths remained in 192. ___
BARCELONA, Spain – Barcelona’s iconic Basilica La Sagrada Familia has reopened for visits exclusively to fitness staff after only 4 months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On Saturday, the basilica invited a first organization of fitness staff to make a stop at the temple designed by architect Antoni Gaudi. Others will be able to make a stopover on Sunday, July 11 and 12, a reopening phase that the church calls a “homage” to doctors, nurses and other fitness professionals.
This will be followed by a momently phase reserved for the people of Barcelona. The church says it is still waiting to announce when visitors from outside the city will be allowed to enter.
The Sagrada Familia is The first tourist attraction in Barcelona, with 4.5 million in 2019.
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NEW DELHI – India recorded on Saturday its single-day peak of new coronavirus cases, with 22,771 more people tested positive in the last 24 hours.
India has now shown 648,315 instances, fourth in the world, the United States, Brazil and Russia. It also reported 18,655 deaths from the virus.
Of the 442 deaths in 24 hours, 198 have occurred in Maharashtra state.
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MOSCOW – The number of coronavirus victims in Russia has exceeded 10,000.
The National Working Group on Coronavirus reported 168 deaths by COVID-19 on Saturday on the last day, bringing the national total to 10027. 6,632 new infections were also known, bringing the total to 674,515.
Russia’s workload is the third largest in the world, the United States and Brazil, yet its reported deaths are lower than in many other countries. The Russian authorities have denied the hypothesis that the figures are being manipulated.