Friday 2 October
BRIEF – ME! – DAILY NEWS BRIEFING
Friday 2 October 2020 News Briefing – Today’s headlines are dominated by the global Coronavirus Pandemic. As of 6:30 am (GMT), these are the global active numbers.
Global COVID-19 UPDATE
Coronavirus Cases: 34,484,468
Deaths: 1,027,654
Recovered: 25,674,937
- Trump and wife Melina test positive for coronavirus.
- Nearly 20,000 Covid-19 cases among Amazon workers.
- Paris could face new Covid-19 restrictions from Monday, health minister says.
- Italy records its highest increase in Covid-19 cases since late April.
- Czech PM challenges EU leaders to face up to bloc’s shortfalls in handling coronavirus crisis.
- Covid-19 vaccine will not end the pandemic on its own, experts warn
Trump and wife Melania test positive for coronavirus
The Guardian says President Trump has said he and the US first lady are in quarantine after one of his closest aides tested positive for coronavirus.
He tweeted “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”
Read the full story on The Guardian
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Nearly 20,000 Covid-19 cases among Amazon workers
BBC News says Amazon said that more than 19,816 of its frontline workers in the US have contracted Covid-19 since March.
The number equates to 1.44% of its 1.37 million workers across Amazon and it’s subsidiary Whole Foods.
Amazon had faced criticism from employees, unions and elected officials, who have accused the company of putting employees’ health at risk.
Read the full story on BBC News
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Paris could face new Covid-19 restrictions from Monday, health minister says
France24 says the French government could place Paris on maximum alert on Monday amid a rise in Covid-19 infections, the health minister said. It would likely include forcing the closure of restaurants and bars and tighten other restrictions on public life.
France reported nearly 14,000 new confirmed coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, close to the record levels seen last week.
Read the full story on France24
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Italy records its highest increase in Covid-19 cases since late April
CNN says Italy on Thursday reported the highest daily increase in new coronavirus cases since April 24, figures from the country’s health ministry show.
The country recorded at least 2,548 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, bringing the total number of infections to 317,409.
Read the full story on CNN
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Czech PM challenges EU leaders to face up to bloc’s shortfalls in handling coronavirus crisis
RT News says the Czech PM called on the EU leadership to discuss the European Union’s lack of cooperation on the coronavirus issue after his country faced a second wave of the pandemic.
Cooperation between the EU’s health authorities and coronavirus experts is effectively not working, he said.
“Now our country is facing the second wave. We were one of the best during the first wave, but now, of course, we’re in a different situation and we don’t want to shut down the economy anymore,” he stated.
Read the full story on RT News
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Covid-19 vaccine will not end the pandemic on its own, experts warn
Arab News says the development of a Covid-19 vaccine will not, on its own, end the coronavirus threat, experts have warned. As a result, other preventative and precautionary measures will still be required for a time after a vaccine becomes available.
In a report published on Thursday, a multidisciplinary group convened by the Royal Society reiterated that initial vaccines might only be partially effective, might not work for everyone and might provide only short-term immunity.
Read the full story on Arab News
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A quick look at the other top headlines
Trump condemns white supremacy after debate row
BBC News says Trump has condemned all white supremacist groups following controversy over remarks he made during the first presidential debate.
In an interview with Fox News on Thursday he explicitly condemned the Proud Boys group which in the debate he had urged to “stand back and stand by”.
At least nine killed as forest fires rage in eastern Ukraine
Euronews says at least nine people have died and fourteen more hospitalised after a number of forest fires swept through Ukraine’s eastern region of Luhansk, according to authorities.
As many as 120 people have also been evacuated from villages in the area, the emergency services said in a statement on Thursday.
Tunisia signs a 10-year military deal with US
Africanews says US Defense Secretary Mark Esper signed a 10-year military cooperation deal with Tunis Wednesday during his first stop on a regional tour, hailing US-Tunisia collaboration over the conflict in neighbouring Libya.
Thousands mark anti-government protests anniversary in Iraq
Aljazeera says thousands of Iraqis gathered in the capital and the country’s south on Thursday, marking the first anniversary of the start of unprecedented protests demanding the fall of the ruling class.
The protests, which lasted months before running out of steam, will be revived, demonstrators said, if no reform is carried out by the current government.
