International News: 20/08/2020

 ASIA

-Coronavirus

New Cases: 96,656 (highest new infections within 24 hours)

Total Cases: 5,927,992

New Deaths: 1,638

Total Deaths: 124,920

-Iran: Iran surpassed 20,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, the health ministry said. It is the highest death toll for any Middle East country so far in the pandemic.

NORTH AMERICA

-Coronavirus

New Cases: 55,978

Total Cases: 6,721,661

New Deaths: 2,124 (highest new deaths within 24 hours)

Total Deaths: 252,054

-USA: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, says he does not foresee a Covid-vaccine mandate in the United States. "I don't think you'll ever see a mandating of vaccine, particularly for the general public", Fauci said. He said everyone has the right to refuse a vaccine. "If someone refuses the vaccine in the general public, then there's nothing you can do about that. You cannot force someone to take a vaccine", he said.

        However, in some areas like medical sector, Fauci said that many health workers are asked to vaccinate in order to have contacts with patients. "When you're in the medical sector, depending on the policy of a hospital, the hospital may say--if you refuse to take a given vaccine, whether that's a hepatitis vaccine or flu vaccine or perhaps even the Covid vaccine, then you might not able to have person-to-person contact with patients", he explained.

SOUTH AMERICA

-Coronavirus

New Cases: 83,779

Total Cases: 5,493,490

New Deaths: 2,123

Total Deaths: 181,871

-Brazil: Emergency payments to Brazil's poor could be extended through the end of the year, President Jair Bolsonaro said on Wednesday, but at a lower rate than the current 600 reais ($108) a month. Bolsonaro said continuing with 600 reais a month is not an option as that would jeopardize Brazil's fiscal credibility. At the same time, one of the proposals put forward by the economy ministry, of 200 reais a month, is not enough. "We can reach a middle ground and we will try to extend it for a few months, perhaps until the end of the year", Bolsonaro said.

EUROPE

-Coronavirus

New Cases: 24,236

Total Cases: 3,247,438

New Deaths: 451

Total Deaths: 204,174

-Spain: Spain reported 3,715 new coronavirus infections and 127 new deaths from the infections within 24 hours. The latest reports marks the highest increase in Spain's COVID-19 tally since the end of country's lockdown.

-Czech: The Czech Republic will not take part in WHO-led COVAX plan to develop and distribute a vaccine against COVID-19. Health Minister Adam Vojtech said, "We will not joint the WHO initiative for various reasons, the rules are less favorable for us than being part of the European initiative."

       "We are going with the initiative by the European Commission, which is negotiating with producers, and the negotiations are very advanced, we will very soon take part in (an agreement) with AstraZeneca", he explained.

AFRICA

-Coronavirus

New Cases: 10,920

Total Cases: 1,151,695

New Deaths: 328

Total Deaths: 26,685

-Mali: President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced around midnight on Tuesday that he is resigning from his post as military forces him out of the presidency. "Today, certain parts of the military have decided that intervention was necessary. Do I really have a choice? Because I do not wish blood to be shed", Keita said in a brief statement broadcast on national television. He said he has decided "to give up my duty from now on." It has plunged the country into political crisis. It is unclear if the military is now officially in charge of the country.

-South Africa: South Africa's ban on the sale of tobacco products and alcohol was lifted --as part of easing of restrictions imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, tobacco companies are determined to take legal action against the South African government for its banning of tobacco products during the nearly five-month coronavirus lockdown. The Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (FITA), brought forward a court application on May 4 against the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. FITA said there is no rational connection between the cigarette ban and prevention of the spread of COVID-19. The Pretoria High Court dismissed FITA's challenge on June 26, ruling that Dlamini-Zuma acted reasonably with a view to save lives when she banned tobacco products. However on Friday, the Supreme Court granted FITA the right to appeal. FITA's president, Sinenhlanhla Mnguni, said the association would proceed its lawsuit. He said : Medical evidence does not support the minister's decision to ban tobacco products", and the move was made in a non-consultative and "undemocratic" way. Mngui argued that by banning tobacco, the government went against the main objective of lockdown, pushing the people to go out and seek cigarettes on the black market, a trade that increased sharply over recent months.

[Note:

👉Organizations such as the Cancer Association of South Africa (CASA) and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa have supported the ban.

👉BATSA--a unit of British American Tobacco described the ban as "bizarre and irregular ". According to BASTA, South Africa lost $36 million taxes during everyday of the tobacco ban.

👉Although it has been suggested smokers are more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, no evidence has been brought to the court proving that smoking during the lockdown specifically increases people's susceptibility to COVID-19, Abdol Karim, a senor researcher at Wits University Centre for Health Economics, said. "We do not know conclusively what the link between COVID-19 and smoking is", said Karim.

OCEANIA

-Coronavirus

New Cases: 226

Total Cases: 26,251

New Deaths: 12

Total Deaths: 476

-Australia: Australia has signed a deal with British drug-maker AstraZeneca to secure a potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed with Oxford University. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the vaccine is one of the most promising and advanced of the drugs currently in the development.