COVID-19 World Update
by Sriya Sadhu
VOL. 12 — published July 26, 2020 under COVID-19
- Mexico reports more than 7,500 new COVID-19 cases
- Mexico’s health ministry announced 7,573 new infections on Friday (5/24), which brings their nationwide total to 378,385
- There has also been a reported 737 new deaths, bringing their death toll to 42,625
- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador remains by his claim that the COVID-19 crisis is “losing steam,” expressing that the rise in cases is due to more effective testing
- Obrador also stated that “We need to find a balance between health and economic situation, reopening carefully, practicing all the protocols but we can't stay immobilized. If we open and there's an outbreak, we will close again”
- India's PM says the country's fight against COVID-19 has proven the world wrong
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed his country’s response to the pandemic has defied global expectations.
- India currently has the third-highest number of cases worldwide, with more than 1.3 million recorded instances of COVID-19 and 32,060 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University
- Modi claimed the recovery rate was better in India than in other countries but additionally warned that the threat of the disease remained.
- On Sunday (5/19) India recorded 48,661 new cases. The situation is particularly severe in Delhi, the country's worst-hit city.
- COVID-19 surges across the Middle East and North Africa
- COVID-19 is surging in some of the most populous nations in the Middle East and North Africa, with reported cases hitting record highs in recent weeks.
- In Egypt, more than 100 health workers have died from the virus, while In Iraq, frustration is mounting over the flailing health sector as cases skyrocket.
- Iran is considered the regional epicenter of the pandemic where COVID-19 deaths have soared again after the initial surge several months ago subsided. Saudi Arabia, one of the Arab world's richest countries, is not far behind its regional arch-rival in terms of total cases, despite having a population less than half its size.
- Conflict areas like Yemen, Syria, and Libya continue to grapple with limited testing capabilities.
- The US stands by allowing each community to make a determination on reopening schools on their own
- There is not a uniform threshold when it comes to reopening schools, Health and Human Service Secretary Alex Azar said on Sunday in response to the question of why there wasn’t a benchmark on when schools should shut down.
- Azar described communities with 5% positive testing as yellow communities and 10% positive testing as red communities, detailing that each of these types of communities can determine on their own what kind of reopening plan they’ll have.
- Hong Kong records more than 100 new COVID-19 cases for the fifth straight day.
- Hong Kong has recorded 128 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the fifth straight day of cases surpassing the 100 mark, according to the head of the communicable disease branch of the Department of Health, Chuang Shuk-Kwan.
- Among the new infections, 103 are local transmissions and 25 are imported cases. Among the 103 local cases, 68 are related to previous cases and the sources of 35 are still under investigation. Hong Kong's total case tally stands at 2,634 currently.
- In response, health officials announced that standard crew change arrangements for passenger and goods ships without cargo would be suspended from July 29