Coronavirus pandemic: Updates from around the world

By Nectar Gan, Brett McKeehan, Rob Picheta and Amir Vera, CNN

Updated 0010 GMT (0810 HKT) July 12, 2020
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10:32 a.m. ET, July 11, 2020

New York state reports its lowest 3-day Covid-19 death toll average since mid-March

From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia

New York state recorded its lowest Covid-19 three-day death toll average — which is seven – since March 16, the governor said in a new release Saturday.

New York reported six Covid-19 related deaths yesterday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

Hospitalizations dropped below 800 for the first time since March 18, Cuomo said.

Of the 69,203 tests conducted in New York yesterday, 730 were positive, according to the release.

New York City hovered over a 1% positivity rate for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

“I urge residents to stay New York tough and not give up the ground we've worked so hard to gain together, particularly in the face of rising cases throughout the country and compliance issues here at home," Cuomo said.

4:53 p.m. ET, July 11, 2020

MLB team cancels workout due to potential Covid-19 exposure to staff member

From CNN's Jabari Jackson

The Houston Astros play a simulated baseball game inside Minute Maid Park in Houston on July 9.
The Houston Astros play a simulated baseball game inside Minute Maid Park in Houston on July 9. David J. Phillip/AP

The Houston Astros have canceled Saturday’s team workout at Minute Maid Park as a “precautionary measure” after a staff member was potentially exposed to Covid-19 outside of the organization. 

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have cancelled today’s workout. We are working closely with MLB and our team physicians to follow the established testing and cleaning protocols so that we can safely bring our players and staff back to the field as soon as possible," general manager James Click said in a statement,

Some context: This news comes a day after Major League Baseball’s announcement that 1.8% of team personnel had tested positive for the coronavirus in the final intake screening through July 9.

Houston opens the 2020 season at home against the Seattle Mariners on July 24 at Minute Maid Park.

10:26 a.m. ET, July 11, 2020

More than 40 Miami-Dade bus drivers have tested positive for Covid-19 over the past few weeks

From CNN's Melissa Alonso

A Miami-Dade County bus operator, who was last on the job in late June, has died after testing positive for Covid-19, according to a news release from Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW).

"DTPW mourns the loss of one of our very own front-line workers," the release said. 

The bus operator "was working in June before testing positive" for Covid-19, said communications director Ileen Delgado in a correction to the initial release.

"A total of 44 bus operators have tested positive for Covid-19 from June 21 through July 9. All of them are quarantined on paid leave," DTPW spokesperson Luis Espinoza told CNN. 

It is not clear if the bus operator was symptomatic or what route this person drove.

9:55 a.m. ET, July 11, 2020

More than 7,000 people hospitalized with Covid-19 in Florida

From CNN’s Randi Kaye

There are a total of 7,063 patients hospitalized in Florida with coronavirus, according to new data released by the Agency for Health Care Administration on Saturday. 

Miami-Dade County currently has 1,601 patients hospitalized; the most hospitalized patients of any county in the state.

In Orange County, where Disney World reopens on Saturday, 475 patients are hospitalized.

7:53 a.m. ET, July 11, 2020

"Please help us, we are abandoned here." Thousands of Moroccan seasonal workers are stranded in Spain

From CNN's Laura Perez Maestro

More than seven thousand Moroccans, most of them women, are stranded in Spain after their country closed its borders to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

They arrived in Spain to pick fruit in March, sending their earnings back home to families, and were trapped when the season ended in May. Now, 7,200 people are in limbo in Spain's southern Huelva province with almost no money, according to a statement released earlier this week by a group of Spanish and Moroccan non-governmental human rights organizations, including local Andalusian group Mujeres 24h.

On Thursday, a group of 15 women staged a protest in in Cartaya, Huelva. The women, who work on one of the farms involved marched with banners demanding to be allowed to go back home.

"We are here without a job, we have nothing, the money we had we sent it to our family. We are out of money to eat, we need to go back. We ask [King] Mohammed VI to send someone to help us so that we can return," Fátima, one of the protesters, said, in a video of the protest obtained by CNN.

"Our children are alone in Morocco, they have nobody to take care of them, we need to go back," she said. A video of the protesters discussing their situation was obtained by CNN from an activist group.

Read the full story here.

7:35 a.m. ET, July 11, 2020

UN Secretary General says Covid-19 crisis is a "wake-up call"

From CNN's Maija Ehlinger in Atlanta

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said "the Covid-19 crisis is a wake-up call,” and that “economies and societies must be reshaped to be fairer and more inclusive” in the future. 

During his speech at the closing of a virtual Covid-19 conference put on by the International AIDS Society on Saturday, Guterres focused on the parallel lessons learned from the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic and the current coronavirus pandemic:

"Gender inequalities, gender-based violence and the criminalization and marginalization of vulnerable groups continue to drive HIV forward. The HIV movement teaches us that successful pandemic responses require a respect for human rights and gender equality. A commitment to leave no one behind, community-led service delivery, and innovation." 

Guterres went on to talk about the importance of accessibility to viable vaccines as they become available. "Effective treatment to the future vaccine against the coronavirus must be available to everyone everywhere as a global public good -- a people's vaccine."

7:03 a.m. ET, July 11, 2020

Bill Gates warns the pandemic could slow the fight against other diseases

From CNN's Tina Burnside in Atlanta

The Covid-19 pandemic is starting to cause disruptions to global health care supply chains, slowing down the fight against all other diseases, including AIDS, Bill Gates has warned.

Gates, speaking at the International Aids Conference on Saturday, cited projections by the both the United Nations and the Global Fund that these disruptions could prevent hundreds of thousands of people from getting the treatments they need in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. 

The Microsoft co-founder said that because of the advances made by researchers to help identify those infected, along with improved diagnostic tools and progress with vaccinations, he remains optimistic that we will defeat Covid-19 and continue making strides with HIV/AIDS.

The philanthropist cautioned that if drugs and vaccines go out to the highest bidder instead of to the people and places who really need them, we will have a "longer, more unjust, deadlier pandemic."

"We need leaders to make these hard decisions about distributing based on equity not just on market-driven factors" Gates said. 

6:29 a.m. ET, July 11, 2020

Tokyo hits record daily number of infections as cases mount in Japan

From CNN’s Yoko Wakatsuki in Tokyo and Sophie Jeong in Seoul

Pedestrians wear protective face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus while walking on Friday, July 10, in Tokyo.
Pedestrians wear protective face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus while walking on Friday, July 10, in Tokyo. Eugene Hoshiko/AP

Japan recorded 430 new coronavirus cases Friday, its health ministry said -- the first time the country has registered more than 400 daily new infections since April 24, when it was still under a state of emergency over the pandemic. 

The nationwide total includes Tokyo’s 243 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, the highest daily jump in new cases in the capital since the outbreak began. 

The total number of people infected by the virus in the country so far stands at 21,841 with 995 deaths.

4:51 p.m. ET, July 11, 2020

India coronavirus cases top 800,000 as country posts highest daily infections for third consecutive day

From CNN's Manveena Suri in New Delhi 

Health workers wearing protective clothing arrive to screen people for Covid-19 symptoms at a slum in Mumbai on Friday.
Health workers wearing protective clothing arrive to screen people for Covid-19 symptoms at a slum in Mumbai on Friday. Rafiq Maqbool/AP

India has registered more than 800,000 Covid-19 cases so far, the country’s health ministry announced Saturday.

It reported a record 27,114 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, bringing the nationwide total to 820,916. 

This is the third consecutive day that the country has recorded its highest single-day jump in new coronavirus cases. 

As Covid-19 cases continue to soar, Indian cities and states are reimposing strict measures to curb the spread.

On Friday, India’s most populous Uttar Pradesh state issued several restrictions in the state for the weekend in a bid to contain the surge, with only essential services operating.

At least 515,000 people have recovered from the virus to date, the ministry said. 

The South Asian nation has so far tested over 11.3 million samples for coronavirus, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research.