Back and forth on curbs continue

south Africa shuts schools again, Trump says not all schools need to reopen and Belgium halts easing of curbs, joining nations that have reimposed lockdown recently due to continuous rise in cases

Back and forth on curbs continue

Relatives observe as undertakers place flowers on the grave of a COVID-19 patient during a funeral in Johannesburg on Friday. PIC/AFP

Globally, over 2.75 lakh new COVID-19 cases were registered on Thursday, according to the worldometers data published on Friday. The uptick in infections have forced several countries over the past few weeks to backtrack on their decision to ease lockdown and re-impose curbs to stem the spread of novel Coronavirus. More nations continue to join the list, including South Africa where President Cyril Ramaphosa has again announced the closure of schools for a month even as the nation's cases reached 4,08,052 and around 6,000 people have died.

The government had to balance the concerns over health and welfare of educators and learners with the impact that closing of schools would have on the future of an entire generation, he said. Schools will be closed again till August 24, for students of all but two classes. In Belgium, which has 64,847 cases and 9,812 deaths, the government announced that it was not easing the lockdown as of now and bringing in new restrictions as the daily infection rate hits a new high since May, reported the Guardian.

The average infection rate increased over the past two weeks and the number of new cases rose 89 per cent from the previous week. Belgium's Prime Minister Sophie Wilmés said, "Since last week, the average infection rate has increased considerably. This indicates that the epidemic is flaring up again. Agencies

New clusters still emerging in China

Beijing reported two cases in Liaoning as China continues to see infection clusters develop even though it has largely contained the virus in most of the country. Urumqi was affected recently with dozens of cases.

Trump scraps Florida convention

President Donald Trump has cancelled the mega Jacksonville portion of the Republican National Convention to be held next month due to the coronavirus "flare-up" in Florida, a major setback in his re-election bid.
Florida has 3,89,868 cases, the third-highest in the US, and 5,632 people have died so far.

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