Name: Bulgaria makes masks mandatory – as it happened
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Bulgaria makes masks mandatory – as it happened

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We’ve launched a new blog at the link below:We’ve launched a new blog at the link below – head there for the latest: Here’s a quick recap of the latest developments:The White House and Democrats in the US congress have moved closer to agreement on a new coronavirus relief package, as president said he was willing to accept a large aid bill despite opposition from his own Republican party.With just two weeks to go until the US presidential election, Trump signaled a willingness to go along with more than $2.2tn in new Covid-19 relief, as Democrats had been pushing for months.“I want to do it even bigger than the Democrats,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News, as talks between Democrat Nancy Pelosi and treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin continued with the goal of getting something to pass Congress before 3 November.Pelosi, speaking to reporters after a mid-afternoon call with Mnuchin, was asked about prospects for a legislative package by the end of this week.“I hope so. That’s the plan,” she said.The White House has proposed $1.8tn in coronavirus relief, while Pelosi is pushing for $2.2tn.Earlier on Tuesday, Pelosi told Bloomberg TV: “I’m optimistic, because I do think we have ... a shared value that finally they want to crush the virus. Hopefully by the end of the day today, we’ll know where we all are.”Mexico is doubling down on its public health message to avoid big crowds and avert a second wave of coronavirus infections as annual festivities approach.The upcoming Day of the Dead traditionally draws hundreds of thousands of people nationwide.The 1-2 November Day of the Dead celebration blends Catholic rituals and the pre-Hispanic belief that the dead return once a year from the underworld as cemeteries, public gardens and houses light up in the bright, orange colour of planted marigold.Authorities have said cemeteries will remain closed and the government of Mexico City, the country’s largest metropolis, warned that tighter coronavirus curbs may be on their way as hospitalisations rise in the sprawling capital.From a public health standpoint, Mexico’s cemeteries “become areas of high risk for contagion” during the annual celebration, deputy health minister Hugo López-Gatell said. “The recommendation is to avoid crowds.”Another “high risk opportunity” for infections is the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe on 12 December, said López-Gatell, as annually upwards of 3 million pilgrims flock to the Catholic basilica in Mexico City to honour the nation’s patron saint.Both festivities, along with Christmas, come as the weather is turning colder and authorities fear an uptick in contagion. Netflix has reported fewer paid subscribers in the third quarter as streaming competition increased and live sports returned to television.The company said it added 2.2 million paid subscribers globally during the quarter that ended 30 September compared with analysts’ estimates of 3.4 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Shares of Netflix, one of the biggest gainers this year as people stayed home amid the pandemic, dropped nearly 6% to $494 in after-hours trading on Tuesday.Netflix had warned investors that a sudden surge in new sign-ups would fade in the latter half of the year as Covid-19 restrictions eased.The pandemic sparked new interest in the service as people around the world were told to stay at home, cinemas went dark and sports leagues cancelled live games.Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester in England, accused the government of playing a “game of poker with people’s lives” after Boris Johnson imposed the toughest Covid restrictions on the region without agreeing a support package for businesses and low-paid workers.After a chaotic day of negotiations, the 10-day standoff between Downing Street and Greater Manchester’s leaders came to an acrimonious end despite the two sides being just £5m apart, or the equivalent of £1.78 for each resident.In a televised statement, Burnham warned that local people faced “a winter of real hardship”. He accused ministers of bullying the region into accepting less than their £65m final request for support for businesses and said that walking away from the talks amounted to a “deliberate act of levelling down”.The prime minister confirmed that tier 3 measures would be imposed on 2.8 million people in the region from midnight on Thursday, closing pubs and a swathe of the hospitality sector. It means one in 10 people in England – nearly 6 million – will be under the strictest measures. These are the first curbs to be imposed unilaterally, however.Officials in California, home to Walt Disney’s Disneyland, said large theme parks cannot reopen until a county’s Covid-19 risk level drops to the lowest tier of “minimal” spread.Disneyland unions earlier had asked the state to let the resort, located in Anaheim, in Orange County, open when the county reached “moderate” spread.AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine trial in the US is expected to resume as early as this week after the US food and drug administration (FDA) completed its review of a serious illness, sources told Reuters.AstraZeneca’s large, late-stage US trial has been on hold since 6 September, after a participant in the company’s UK trial fell ill with what was suspected to be a rare spinal inflammatory disorder called transverse myelitis.The sources, who were briefed on the matter but asked to remain anonymous, said they have been told the trial could resume later this week. It was unclear how the FDA would characterise the illness, they said.The agency is requiring researchers conducting the trial to add information about the incident to consent forms signed by study participants, according to one of the sources.UK regulatory officials previously reviewed the illness and determined there was “insufficient evidence to say for certain” that it was or was not related to the vaccine.It permitted the trial to resume enrolling participants in the UK, according to a draft of the updated consent form shared with Reuters.Regulators in Brazil, India and South Africa also previously allowed AstraZeneca to resume its vaccine trials there.AstraZeneca, which is developing the vaccine with Oxford University researchers, had been seen as a frontrunner in the race to produce a vaccine for Covid-19 until its trials were put on hold to investigate the illness. Early data from large-scale trials in the US of vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are expected some time next month.An AstraZeneca spokeswoman said: “We cannot comment on a pending FDA decision.”France again reported more than 20,000 new confirmed coronavirus infections in a day, a total of 20,468, after the daily tally dipped to 13,243 on Monday.Last week, France saw five days with more than 20,000 new cases per day and two days with more than 30,000.The case total now stands at 930,745 and looks set to jump above the 1 million mark before the end of this week if the trend continues.The health ministry also reported 262 new deaths, including 100 from retirement homes over multiple days, pushing the cumulative death toll to 33,885.The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 rose by 797 to 12,458, the biggest single-day increase since early April. The number of people in intensive care rose by 78 to 2,177.Hungarian justice minister Judit Varga announced she has tested positive for Covid-19 and has mild respiratory symptoms.“As of today, I am in quarantine at home with my family, I work from home and will not attend the government meeting,” Varga said. Meanwhile Bulgarian president Rumen Radev will have to self-isolate pending a coronavirus test after coming into contact late last week with a top military officer who later tested positive for Covid-19.Radev travelled to Estonia on Monday but cut short his visit and returned on Tuesday evening, showing reporters at Sofia airport a negative result of a Covid-19 test he took during his trip.However, health minister Kostadin Angelov said Radev had must self-isolate as a precaution following his contact with the commander of the Bulgarian air force on Friday.It was not clear when Radev would undergo another Covid-19 test or how long he would have to remain under quarantine, but the president said he was symptom-free. Radev said:Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, I have been in constant contact with thousands of people across the country, but I am strictly abiding by all health measures and have not had any problems, nor do I have one right now.I am in a perfect physical condition, without any symptoms of infection. Hi everyone, this is , taking over the blog for the next few hours.Please do get in touch with any story tips or personal experiences you would like to shareEmail: jessica.murray@theguardian.comTwitter: The UK prime minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday he would impose tougher lockdown restrictions on the Greater Manchester region in the north of England despite failing to reach a deal on funding support with local leaders.The UK - the worst-hit European nation during the Covid-19 pandemic with nearly 44,000 related deaths - is now experiencing a second wave of the virus, recording 21,331 new cases and 241 deaths on Tuesday.Johnson is resisting pressure for a second national lockdown and is instead pursuing a localised strategy of imposing .The plan has been resisted by leaders in the north, where tougher restrictions have been in place since July. In the end, the argument concerned the amount of money the government was willing to offer in financial support, which local leaders said was insufficient for the poorest in their communities to cope with the stricter restrictions.After ten days of tough and sometimes acrimonious negotiations, Johnson unilaterally imposed top tier restrictions - which include greater restrictions on household mixing, the forced closure of pubs which do not serve food, and an advisory not to travel in or out of the region - without the explicit agreement of local leaders.Johnson told a news conference the restrictions would take affect on Friday, he said that to wait any longer to act would put Manchester’s NHS and residents at risk.Earlier, Manchester’s Labour mayor Andy Burnham told a news conference that the government had failed to meet the minimum amount needed by the region to protect its poorest, and that it was ministers who had walked away from talks.At no point today, were we offered enough to protect the poorest people in our communities through the punishing reality of the winter to come.The city will receive £22m in support - around £8 per capita and significantly less than the £60m originally offered. It is understood that government and local leaders remain in negotiations for an additional support package.Belgium will need to postpone all non-essential hospital procedures to deal with a surge in Covid-19 infections, the health minister Frank Vandenbroucke told lawmakers on Tuesday, days after warning of a Covid “tsunami” hitting the country.The nation of 11 million people had 816 new Covid-19 infections per 100,000 residents over the past week, according to official figures, second only to the Czech Republic in Europe, and has lost 10,443 people to the disease, among the world’s highest per capita fatality rates.Health authorities decided on Monday to test only patients with symptoms and hospitals are now admitting half the numbers of patients as during the peak of the first wave in April. But the number of patients in intensive care units, which stood at 446 on Tuesday, is doubling every eight to nine days.Martial Moonen, head of internal medicine at Liege’s Citadel Hospital, told Reuters staff were stretched to the limit.There is really a significant shortage, which is linked not only to absences, but also to illnesses and burnout.Yves Van Laethem, a senior virologist who speaks regularly at national Covid-19 briefings, told newspaper La Derniere Heure that Belgium may need to return to full lockdown if there is no reversal of the surge in infections and hospital admissions.All cafes and restaurants closed from Monday, but there are question marks over the effectiveness of such measures. Experts have said half of Belgians were not respecting social distancing rules in September.Bulgaria will make wearing face masks obligatory in all outdoor spaces from Thursday, as coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours hit a new record, its health minister said on Tuesday.Kostadin Angelov said wearing protective masks, along with social distancing and frequent disinfection, will slow the spread of the virus by about 30% and help prevent the health system being overwhelmed.We expect the rate of infections to decrease if people observe the measures strictly. Our main aim is to decrease the number of infected Bulgarians, so that fewer people would have to go to hospital and fewer would die in hospital.Bulgaria reported 1,024 new infections on Tuesday, the highest since the first cases were reported in March. The Balkan country of 7 million people now has 30,527 confirmed cases including 1,008 deaths.Angelov said the new measure, also aimed at protecting medical staff, would remain in place until the end of November. Some 71 doctors, nurses and orderlies tested positive in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 1,622 people, data showed.The Czech government may have to tighten its anti-coronavirus measures further as numbers of new cases have not ebbed and the health system is getting close its capacity, the health minister, Roman Prymula, said on Tuesday.The Czech Republic has reported the highest numbers of infections in Europe in the past days relative to population.Active cases reached 105,541 in the nation of 10.7 million as of Monday and the number of patients currently hospitalised with Covid-19 has more than tripled this month to 3,721.Deaths have also soared to 1,513, an increase of 407 over the past week.Hospitals have been cutting regular activities to make more beds and personnel available for the surging numbers of patients.Prymula told parliament:I would very much plead for the already implemented measures to be respected, because we can see that they aren’t, which means that we will have to propose tougher measures at the government. We don’t have much time.He was not specific but other ministers have in the past days suggested some version of a lockdown could be on the cards if the situation does not improve.The government has called an extraordinary session on the situation for Wednesday morning.Prymula said that the peak of the pressure on hospitals should come in early November.He said that could mean a need of 9,000-11,000 regular beds with oxygen, and 1,500-3,000 beds at intensive-care units for patients with Covid-19.As of Tuesday, there were 7,670 vacant regular beds and 963 ICU beds in Czech hospitals, according to data collected by the state’s Institute of Health Information and Statistics (UZIS), but most of those were not in wards for coronavirus patients.Prymula said the government was buying an extra 500 lung ventilators used for the most serious cases and 1,200 machines for oxygen therapy given to less seriously ill patients.The government has ordered bars and restaurants to close except for takeout orders, and schools have moved to distance learning. Sport and fitness clubs, theatres and cinemas had already shut, but shops have remained open.People are obliged to wear face masks inside public buildings and in public transport. From Wednesday, that will apply also to outside areas in populated places.Italy has reported on Tuesday 10,874 new coronavirus cases, 1,536 more than Monday. There were 89 new deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 36,705. The total number of cases is now up to 434,449, as the country brings in curfews in two regions.On Monday, authorities in Lombardy have been given the green light to impose a curfew which will run from 11pm until 5am and is expected to begin on Thursday and be in place until 13 November.On Tuesday, Campania governor Vincenzo De Luca said he has planned to introduce a night-time curfew from this weekend (see ). De Luca said he has spoken to the interior minister, Luciana Lamorgese, and that she has agreed to send 100 soldiers which will be used to help control the territory and enforce Covid rules.Coronavirus cases in Campania are rising rapidly, as hospitals in the southern regions are bracing themselves.Compared with better equipped hospitals in the richer north, there are fears that those in the south will struggle to cope with an escalation in cases. The health system in the south has been blighted by cost-cutting, and more than 40 hospitals have closed in recent years.The mayor of Naples, Luigi de Magistris, said Campania risked returning to a rigid lockdown because the virus was “out of control”.“We have just 15 intensive care beds left,” he told state broadcaster RAI in a radio interview on Tuesday.

This article is more than 1 year oldThis article is more than 1 year oldThis blog is now closed. We’ve launched a new blog at the link below:We’ve launched a new blog at the link below – head there for the latest: Here’s a quick recap of the latest developments:The White House and Democrats in the US congress have moved closer to agreement on a new coronavirus relief package, as president said he was willing to accept a large aid bill despite opposition from his own Republican party.With just two weeks to go until the US presidential election, Trump signaled a willingness to go along with...

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Archie Bland

Jessica Murray

TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and Guardian Unlimited, is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers The Guardian and The Observer, as well as a substantial body of web-only work produced by its own staff, including a rolling news service.

Bulgaria makes masks mandatory – as it happened

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