Virus cases rise in US states amid new world restrictions

The broad reach of the virus has brought scrutiny to governors' decisions. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, a first-term Republican governor who has backed one of the country's most aggressive reopening plans, became the first US governor to announce that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He plans to quarantine at home.

Stitt, who has resisted any statewide mandate on masks and rarely wears one himself, attended President Donald Trump's rally in Tulsa last month, which health experts have said likely contributed to a surge in coronavirus cases there, though Stitt said he's confident he didn't contract the virus at the gathering.

"As far as where he became infected, it's really unknown," Oklahoma Health Commissioner Dr Lance Frye said.

Florida broke the 300,000 barrier on confirmed cases on Wednesday, reporting 10,181 new ones as its daily average death rate continues to rise. Major cities in Florida have imposed mask rules, but Governor Ron DeSantis has declined to issue a state-wide order, arguing those are best decided on and enforced locally.

Still, on Tuesday the governor wore a mask while speaking publicly for the first time — at a round-table news conference with Miami-Dade County mayors.

"We have broken single-day records several times this week and there's nothing about it that says we're turning the corner, or seeing light at the end of the tunnel. I don't see that in the numbers," said Dr Nicholas Namias, chief of trauma and surgical critical care at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

He said diminishing bed capacity was creating problems at the Miami medical centre. "We're getting to the point where it's going to be full. We have gridlock and we won't be able to take patients and they'll just be stacked in the ERs," Namias said.

Businesses imposed their own restrictions, too, with Walmart becoming the largest US retailer to require customers to wear face coverings at all of its Sam's Club and namesake stores.

Organisers cancelled the 2021 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, because of the pandemic's impact on long-range planning for the New Year's tradition, the Tournament of Roses Association said Wednesday. But Disney World went ahead with the rolling opening of its Florida theme parks that started last weekend, welcoming back visitors to Epcot and Hollywood Studios — despite the surge of cases in the state.

As schools contemplate how to safely hold classes, at least three dozen high school students in northern Illinois tested positive for the coronavirus after some attending summer sports camps showed symptoms of the disease. In South Carolina, meanwhile, elected leaders were joining forces to demand that schools open five days a week for in-person instruction.

Europe on high alert

Other countries imposed lockdowns and implemented new health checks at their borders.

All travellers arriving in Greece from a land border with Bulgaria were required to carry negative coronavirus test results issued in the previous 72 hours. The new rules, which follow an increase in tourism-related COVID-19 cases, triggered an immediate drop in arrivals compared to recent days.

Traffic at the crossing fell by about half, authorities said, but waiting times were still lengthy and a line of cars and trucks was over 500 meters (yards) long as the number of tests carried out by medical teams at the border were increased.

Gergana Chaprazova, 51, from Plovdiv in southern Bulgaria, plans to visit the Greek seaside town of Kavala with her husband, and complained that she was being tested again.

"I have to wait for a test but I (already) have test from Bulgaria. I don't understand why I must have a test here," she said.

In Spain, authorities in the north-eastern Catalonia region made fresh attempts to stem the spread of new coronavirus outbreaks as health experts warned that more and better contact tracing was needed.

Since midnight on Tuesday, 160,000 residents in and around the city of Lleida were forbidden to leave their homes unless it was properly justified. The area was closed off, with police checkpoints outside every municipality.

Romania, citing the rising number of infections, announced a 30-day extension for a nationwide state of alert. Measures include mandatory face masks on public transportation and in shops, while restaurants may only serve customers in outdoor locations. The country set a record for new infections on Saturday.

In Serbia, which has been hit hard by a spike in infections and anti-government protests, a government crisis team expanded a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people from Belgrade to encompass the entire country. Masks were also made mandatory in public spaces where there is no opportunity for 1.5 meters of distancing, such as in lines to enter shops and bus stations.

Renewed restrictions also took effect in Hong Kong, with public gatherings limited to four people, restaurants restricted to takeaway after 6pm, and a one-week closure for gyms, karaoke bars, and selected other businesses. Masks were mandated on public transit for the first time, with the non-compliant being fined.

After a surge in daily infections beginning last month, Israel moved last week to reimpose restrictions, closing events spaces, live show venues, bars and clubs.

It has imposed lockdowns on areas with high infection rates, which in some cases sparked protests from residents.

Officials warn that if case numbers don't come down in the coming days, Israel will have no choice but to lock the entire country down again, as it did in the spring.

"I don't see what other tools we have aside from a lockdown," Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein told the Israeli news site Ynet. "Unless there is a miracle."

Booze ban in South Africa

South Africa, Africa's most developed country, is already showing signs of being overwhelmed by the pandemic — an ominous outlook for the rest of the continent of 1.3 billion people.

A ban on alcohol sales and a night curfew were reimposed this week to reduce the volume of trauma patients to hospitals that are struggling to cope with an influx of COVID-19 patients.

One result was more economic pain in a country which already has a high unemployment rate of 30 per cent.

"This return to the booze ban is causing havoc to the restaurant business, and it's causing people to lose jobs," said Gerald Elliot, owner of a popular Johannesburg restaurant, Ba Pita, which he said closed as a result of the restrictions, with a loss of 28 jobs.

"You can look down our street and see several restaurants that are shut. It looks like they are closed permanently."

Concerns exist even in locations that have not experienced outbreaks. A World Health Organisation delegation visiting Turkmenistan, a country that has not reported any coronavirus infections, recommended that the country take stronger actions.

Authorities in the English town of Blackburn also imposed new restrictions on social mingling amid what they say is a "rising tide" of new coronavirus cases.

Director of Public Health Dominic Harrison said that if infection numbers didn't fall by July 27, officials would begin to reimpose lockdown measures such as the closing of shops and other businesses.

And in Tokyo, Governor Yuriko Koike said on Wednesday that the spread of infections in the Japanese capital have escalated to levels tantamount to "issuing an alarm" and requested that residents and business owners step up their preventive measures.

AP