JOHANNESBURG — South Africa has announced another record daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases with 9,064, as Africa’s most developed country shows signs of strain in coping with the pandemic.
Thirty percent of South Africa’s more than 177,000 cases are now in Gauteng province, which contains Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria.
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JOHANNESBURG — South Africa has announced another record daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases with 9,064, as Africa’s most developed country shows signs of strain in coping with the pandemic.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— A special French court has ordered an investigation of three current or former government ministers over their handling of the coronavirus crisis. The investigation stems from complaints filed in the Court of Justice of the Republic targeting former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who resigned Friday, and the current and previous French health ministers.
Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
Newsom has rolled back or limited some businesses reopening in Los Angeles and 20 other counties, now including San Diego. Recently reopened bars, indoor restaurant dining and other indoor entertainment venues were ordered closed in those counties for at least three weeks.
The corrections department says Scott Erskine and Manuel Machado Alvarez died Friday.
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Tribal police for the Navajo Nation and the New Mexico National Guard plan to enforce a curfew to shut down the Navajo reservation during the Fourth of July weekend.
The tribe reported 64 new confirmed coronavirus cases Friday and two more deaths.
More than 2,900 people in the country have died. The African continent overall has more than 433,000 confirmed virus cases.
Peruvian migrant Jose Collantes grieves as he cries on the coffin that contains the remains of his wife Silvia Cano, who died due to COVID-19 complications, according to Collantes, at a Catholic cemetery in Santiago, Chile, Friday, July 3, 2020. (AP PhotoEsteban Felix)
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— `Huge bummer’: July Fourth will test Americans’ discipline
— South Africa’s hospitals bracing for surge of virus patients
— UK scraps quarantine for some visitors as pubs set to reopen
A coffin that contains the remains of Marco Antonio Marquez who died of complications related to COVID-19 is guided by workers through the Bajos de Mena Catholic cemetery in the Puente Alto neighborhood, on the outskirts of Santiago, Chile, Friday, July 3, 2020. (AP PhotoEsteban Felix)
— A special French court has ordered an investigation of three current or former government ministers over their handling of the coronavirus crisis. The investigation stems from complaints filed in the Court of Justice of the Republic targeting former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who resigned Friday, and the current and previous French health ministers.
— California restaurants are paying a heavy price during the coronavirus pandemic as indoor dining has been shut down for the second time across much of the state.
— Air France and regional subsidiary Hop have announced 7,500 job cuts after the virus pandemic grounded most flights and darkened prospects for future air travel
CORRECTS STYLIST'S NAME - Carole Rickaby cuts the hair of customer Sandra Jacobs at Tusk Hair in Camden, London, after opening at midnight to the first post-lockdown customer as restrictions are eased across England early Saturday, July 4, 2020. The easing of restrictions, which were imposed on March 23, allows businesses including pubs, restaurants and hair salons, to reopen to members of the public with measures in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (Jonathan BradyPA via AP)
Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is warning local elected officials that they risk losing state funding if they don’t enforce health orders as the coronavirus pandemic worsens.
Vendor Vivianne Robinson, wearing a mask to protect from the coronavirus, takes a photo with a pigeon perched on her hand along the Venice Beach strand, Friday, July 3, 2020, in Los Angeles. California's governor is urging people to wear masks and skip Fourth of July family gatherings as the state's coronavirus tally rises. Newsom said he'd rely on people using common sense rather than strict enforcement of the face-covering order. (AP PhotoRichard Vogel)
Newsom has rolled back or limited some businesses reopening in Los Angeles and 20 other counties, now including San Diego. Recently reopened bars, indoor restaurant dining and other indoor entertainment venues were ordered closed in those counties for at least three weeks.
About 200 state inspectors fanned out Friday to look for violators over the long Fourth of July weekend. The new enforcement strike teams issued seven citations in their first day of operation.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Authorities in California say two more death row inmates have died from apparent complications of the coronavirus in the midst of an outbreak that has infected 40% of inmates at San Quentin State Prison.
Surfers gather their belongings after being asked to leave by security patrolling the beach at Half Moon Bay State Park in Half Moon Bay, Calif., Friday, July 3, 2020. California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the parking lots of state beaches to close for the Fourth of July weekend to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Half Moon Bay added to the closure by restricting visitors access to the beach. (Jose Carlos FajardoBay Area News Group via AP)
The corrections department says Scott Erskine and Manuel Machado Alvarez died Friday.
Erskine was on death row for the 1993 murder of two boys, 9 and 13, in San Diego. Alvarez was there for a 1987 series of crimes that included rape, robbery, carjacking and murder in Sacramento.
There have now been two dozen deaths from COVID-19 in California’s prison system.
Los Angeles Police officers on horseback patrol the strand along Venice Beach on Friday, July 3, 2020, in Los Angeles. Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging Californians to use common sense over the Fourth of July weekend by wearing face masks and avoiding traditional gatherings with family and friends. (AP PhotoRichard Vogel)
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Tribal police for the Navajo Nation and the New Mexico National Guard plan to enforce a curfew to shut down the Navajo reservation during the Fourth of July weekend.
The sprawling reservation has been trying to contain a coronavirus outbreak. Tribal President Jonathan Nez says the curfew will run from 8 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday. He says it is the first of three consecutive weekend lockdowns.
Nez warns that enforcement on the reservation that spans parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah will be strict.
Campaigners hold lanterns outside Downing Street for British NHS medical and care workers who have died due to COVID-19, in London, Friday, July 3, 2020. A number of NHS staff and campaigners carried one lantern to represent people who have died due to COVID-19, as they walked from St. Thomas' Hospital over Westminster Bridge to then hold a candlelit vigil outside Downing Street, where they read out a small number of representative names of NHS staff who died. (AP PhotoAlastair Grant)
The tribe reported 64 new confirmed coronavirus cases Friday and two more deaths.
MIAMI — As coronavirus infections surge across Florida and hospital authorities nervously count their available intensive care beds, the state’s most populous county is closing down again, imposing a curfew and closing beaches over the Fourth of July weekend to contain the spread.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew begins Friday night and will be in place indefinitely. A new county order also closes casinos, strip clubs, movie theaters, the zoo and other entertainment venues a month after they were allowed to reopen.
The Runyan family visiting form Riverside, Cailf., waits for an outdoors table to eat lunch at the Guerrilla Tacos restaurant in Los Angeles, Friday, July 3, 2020. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered a three-week closure of bars, indoor dining and indoor operations of several other types of businesses in various counties, including Los Angeles, as the state deals with increasing coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. (AP PhotoDamian Dovarganes)
Florida reported 341 new hospital admissions of COVID-19 patients on Friday, the biggest daily jump since the pandemic began, along with 9,488 new confirmed cases and 67 deaths.
The mayor’s order also tightens mask rules at restaurants, requiring customers to wear facial coverings at all times unless eating or drinking. Under the previous order, customers were allowed to remove masks when they sat down.
The mayor said Miami-Dade police will be checking businesses to enforce mask and capacity rules, and closing establishments in violation.
HONOLULU — A U.S. judge will not stop Hawaii from enforcing a quarantine on arriving travelers. U.S. District Judge Jill Otake says in a ruling that the emergency mandate is reasonable during the public health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
A group of Hawaii, California and Nevada residents tried to stop the quarantine by filing a lawsuit alleging it is unfair and unnecessary.
Gov. David Ige has announced that starting Aug. 1, travelers will be able to bypass the quarantine if they test negative prior to arriving. The testing plan is similar to one in Alaska.
LOS ANGELES — California is heading into the Fourth of July weekend under classic sunny summer skies and new health orders that temporarily put many popular beaches off-limits in an effort to prevent runaway coronavirus infections.
A few surfers were in the water at Los Angeles’ Venice Beach and a few dozen people strolled the boardwalk or shoreline early Friday, but the normal Independence Day throngs are missing.
With testing showing a rising COVID-19 positivity rate and increasing hospitalizations, Gov. Gavin Newsom has rolled back or limited some of the reopening of business sectors in counties encompassing nearly three-quarters of the state’s population.
The holiday beach closures began Friday from Los Angeles County northward through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. To the south in Orange County, hugely popular beaches such as Huntington and Newport were to close Saturday and Sunday, while San Diego did not plan any shutdowns. Many Northern California beaches were open but parking was closed at some to reduce the potential for crowding.
GENEVA — The World Health Organization’s emergencies chief says “we need to put up a fight now” during a peak in the current wave of the coronavirus pandemic — rather than focusing on when a second wave might come.
Dr. Michael Ryan said the world will be much better at fighting a second wave, if people can learn the lessons of fighting the first wave.
WHO officials emphasized mask-wearing, social distancing, and hygiene by individuals, along with contact-tracing and tracking of cases by health authorities as key strategies to fight the virus. They say governments and individuals should contour their policies and behavior based on the outbreak’s status in their countries.
Ryan said the world was experiencing a “second peak in the first wave” — a situation in which the virus hasn’t been suppressed enough to quell transmission to end the first one.