Global wrap: Hong Kong 'critical' as Covid cases rise worldwide

The coronavirus situation in Hong Kong is “really critical”, with a record 100 new infections recorded on Sunday, the territory’s leader, Carrie Lam, said, as Melbourne became the first city in Australia to make wearing masks compulsory in response to a resurgent and aggressive outbreak there.

Hong Kong was held up months ago as a model for its success in keeping down Covid-19 cases in the crowded city-state of 7.5 million people, but its caseload – although still low by European and American standards – had grown by a third in the past fortnight to nearly 1,800. Lam has shuttered bars, gyms and nightclubs in the past week and on Sunday announced new guidelines including mandatory mask-wearing indoors.

“I think the situation is really critical and there is no sign the situation is being brought under control,” she told reporters.

Melbourne, too, was thought to be on the way to eradicating the virus a month ago but has since reinstated a full lockdown in response to record daily increases in infections. On Sunday, the state premier, Daniel Andrews, said everyone in Australia’s second-largest city as well as an adjacent area would have to wear a mask or a face covering from 11.59pm on Wednesday.

It is the first time masks have been made compulsory in the country, with a threat of a A$200 (US$111) fine for non-compliance. Andrews announced a further 363 cases of Covid-19 as he introduced the face-coverings requirement on Sunday, marking a fortnight of triple-figure rises in new daily cases in and around the city.

“We’re going to be wearing masks in Victoria and potentially in other parts of the country for a very long time,” he said.

“There’s no vaccine to this wildly infectious virus,” he said. Masks are “a simple thing, but it’s about changing habits, it’s about becoming a simple part of your routine”.

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The changes in Australia were preceded by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday reporting a record one-day rise in coronavirus cases, with more than a quarter of a million cases confirmed in 24 hours. On Sunday, the global pandemic death toll passed 600,000. The WHO also recorded the highest daily death toll since 10 May, with 7,360 reported fatalities. Deaths have been averaging 4,800 a day in July, up slightly from an average of 4,600 a day in June.

The number of people being tested for coronavirus in Bangladesh has fallen by almost half, officials said on Sunday, in the wake of a huge screening scandal.

The number of tests carried out daily has fallen from about 18,000 in late June to just over 10,000 in the past two weeks, the health department said.

The huge drop followed the arrest of more than a dozen people, including a Dhaka hospital owner, on charges they issued fake certificates to thousands of patients saying they were virus-free without testing them.

“The panic among the people [over the virus] has gone,” health department spokeswoman Nasima Sultana told the AFP news agency about the lower testing figures.

Some countries and states have been recommending that everybody wears face masks in indoor settings where social distancing is difficult or impossible. They have been made mandatory on public transport or in shops in many countries.

According to guidance from the World Health Organization, people over 60 or with health issues should wear a medical-grade mask when they are out and cannot socially distance, while all others should wear a three-layer fabric mask.

The WHO guidance, announced on 5 June, is a result of research commissioned by the organisation. It is still unknown whether the wearers of masks are protected, say its experts, but the new design it advocates does give protection to other people if properly used.

The WHO says masks should be made of three layers – with cotton closest to the face, followed by a polypropylene layer and then a synthetic layer that is fluid-resistant. These are no substitute for physical distancing and hand hygiene, it says, but should be worn in situations where distancing is difficult, such as on public transport and at mass demonstrations.

The WHO has been reluctant to commit to recommending face coverings, firstly because the evidence on whether they offer any protection to the public is limited and – more importantly – because it was afraid it would lead to shortages of medical-grade masks for health workers.

 Sarah Boseley Health editor

Meanwhile, the tally of active cases of the new coronavirus in the Czech Republic has risen to 4,764, above the previous high of 4,737 seen in April, health ministry data showed on Sunday.

On Saturday, 113 new cases were identified, bringing to 13,885 the total since the beginning of March when first cases were found.

The central European country of 10.7 million has recorded 358 deaths from the Covid-19 disease caused by the coronavirus, far fewer than many western European nations, Reuters reported.

The rise in the number of active cases has grown as daily infections held above 100 in the past days, outpacing the number of recoveries. The new cases – many in the country’s industrial north-east where a mine outbreak occurred – have so far been milder than before.

The number of people in hospitals was 135 on Saturday, less than a third of the peak of 446 in April and far below capacities of the national health system as presented by the government.

Agencies contributed to this report