Lockdown ordered for 200,000 in northeastern Spain due to Covid-19 outbreaks

Authorities ordered a new lockdown Saturday for some 200,000 people in Lleida province, in Spain's northeastern Catalonia region, due to Covid-19 outbreaks there -- the first confinement order since the nation’s state of emergency was lifted on June 21.

“We’ve decided to implement perimeter controls around Segrià (county) in response to data that confirm significant growth in the number of Covid-19 cases,” Catalan regional president Quim Torra announced at a press conference.

The confinement started at midday Saturday and includes the provincial capital of Lleida. It will be enforced by 24 police checkpoints around the county’s perimeter, preventing movement in and out, except for work or to care for people with special needs, two Catalan government spokesmen told CNN. 

For the past few weeks, medical personnel have been trying to control various coronavirus outbreaks in the county, involving seasonal farm workers at agricultural enterprises, and also at a senior care facility and a small hotel that cares for the homeless.

Spain has tallied more than 28,000 deaths and 250,000 cases from the pandemic, making it one of the hardest-hit countries in Europe. But nationwide confinement for three-and-a-half months slowed the pace of the virus' spread. The Spanish government handed back control to Spain’s 17 regional governments when it lifted the state of emergency on June 21.

Since then, officials have reported some 50 outbreaks of new cases nationwide, localized around businesses, care facilities, and even parties. But none has reached the level of the Segrià county situation.

Residents will be able to move around within the county for essential business, but social gatherings in public will be limited to 10 people, the Catalan government said.

Shakell Avery speaks with members of the press. Courtesy HCA Midwest Health, Menorah Medical Center

On Saturday, as people across the United States celebrate America's independence, Shakell Avery will celebrate a different kind of freedom.

Freedom from Covid-19.

"It feels amazing," Avery told CNN. "After knowing what all I've been through, it's still kind of hard to wrap my mind around. But I'm very thankful and grateful that I'm still here."

Avery, who turns 24 on July 4, recently returned home after spending 76 days in a Kansas hospital -- many of them sedated and on a ventilator -- battling the novel coronavirus.

"I'm going to be at home, safe and sound with my family," said Avery, a barber from Kansas City, Missouri, when asked how he would celebrate his birthday and Independence Day. "There will be plenty of other birthdays, I'm sure, down the line where I can make up for this one."

For now, Avery is focused on sharing his journey with other people his age and warning them to take the coronavirus seriously, as cases in the US rise among young people.

"You're just as at risk as anybody else," Avery said. "You can be the healthiest person on Earth, and you still risk your life every time you carelessly go out here and act like it's not real."

Read more here.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike speaks during a press conference on July 2 in Tokyo. STR/JIJI Press/AFP/Getty Images

Japan recorded 249 new coronavirus infections on Friday, the Health Ministry said Saturday, marking the first time in just over two months that the total has surpassed 200.

Cases in the capital, Tokyo, made up half of the new infections confirmed Friday.

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike urged residents Saturday to refrain from making unnecessary trips outside of Tokyo in order to limit the spread of the virus.

There was also one death confirmed Friday, the health ministry said. This brings the total number of cases nationally to 19,994 (19,282 on land and 712 on the Diamond Princess cruise ship) and the death toll to 990, of which 13 were on the cruise ship.

A member of staff at a pub in north London cleans the bar on June 24 in preparation for pubs to reopen. Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images

The thought of a pint of beer in a proper pub is a dream that has sustained many people in the UK through the tough months of coronavirus lockdown, but as the doors to drinking establishments finally reopen -- in England at least -- on Saturday, a potential nightmare looms.

Just over a week after thousands of British people flouted social-distancing rules to crowd beaches in a heatwave, it's feared the heady mix of alcohol and a sense of liberation from restrictions, at a time when daily infections are still in the hundreds, could prove disastrous.

Extra police have been put on standby, warnings have been issued by the government and numerous guidelines put in place. But concerns still remain that, no matter how committed people are to keeping coronavirus at bay, after a few drinks that will all go out of the window.

In the days before July 4, English drinkers could be forgiven for looking ahead to a day of carefree celebration. Amid announcements of several new freedoms, newspapers called it "Independence Day" or "Super Saturday" while Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was a "patriotic duty" to go to the pub.

Of course, going to the pub isn't going to be the same breezy experience as it was before the pandemic. As with everything in this brave new world, there are rules. Forty-six pages of them, to be precise. Those inevitably mean confusion, and potential for further chaos.

Read more here.

Hospitals in at least two Texas counties are at full capacity heading into July 4, according to county judges who are urging residents to shelter-in-place and take precautions.

Judges in both Starr and Hidalgo counties sent out emergency alerts Friday, warning residents that local hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley were at capacity. 

In Starr County, Judge Eloy Vera said there had been 18 deaths in the county due to Covid-19 and that two severely ill patients had to be flown out of the area for treatment. One of the patients was taken to San Antonio and the other to Dallas, the judge said in a post on Facebook.

"The local and valley hospitals are at full capacity and have no more beds available. I urge all of our residents to please shelter-in-place, wear face coverings, practice social distancing and AVOID GATHERINGS."

Vera issued a public safety alert announcing a "Level 1 Severe" threat, due to the virus spreading rapidly across the county.

In neighboring Hidalgo County, Judge Richard Cortez echoed the warning.

In a public safety alert posted on Twitter, he announced that hospitals were at capacity and asked residents to shelter-in-place, avoid large gatherings, wear face coverings and practice social distancing.

Cortez called on residents to celebrate July 4 "responsibly," adding that to conserve resources, they should only call 911 "if absolutely necessary."

Russia’s official death toll from Covid-19 has now reached 10,027 -- with 168 deaths recorded in the past day, according to Health Ministry figures published on Saturday.

In a 24-hour period, 6,632 new cases of Covid-19 were detected in 84 regions, of which 1,960 cases did not show any symptoms of the disease, a statement said.  

This brings the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 674,515, the third highest in the world after the United States and Brazil, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The latest figures come as people gather in Moscow’s Sokolniki Park on Saturday to protest against the constitutional amendments that pave the way for President Vladimir Putin to remain in power until 2036.

A stylist wears a protective face mask as she cuts a customer's hair at Tusk Hair stylists on July 4, in London. Leon Neal/Getty Images

London has seen more than its share of crises. The 2,000-year old metropolis has endured an influenza pandemic, the Blitz and several financial meltdowns over just the past century.

Time and again, London has come roaring back, relying on a spirit of resilience and reinvention that is being summoned once more as the British capital seeks to recover from what may be this century's greatest upheaval: the coronavirus pandemic.

The spread of the virus and efforts to contain it turned one of the world's liveliest urban meccas into a virtual ghost town, driving millions of people out of the city's center and its financial district, and bringing commerce to a sudden halt.

Nowhere was the standstill captured more acutely than in the mainstay of London city life: the Tube.

Underground journeys for the month of March tumbled 43% from the 106 million recorded in February, and plunged even further in April, during the height of lockdown, to just 5.7 million. Social distancing rules mean the Tube can only handle up to 15% of its normal traffic, according to London's mayor, Sadiq Khan.

The fallout from lockdown has been severe. London's economy is expected to contract nearly 17% this year, according to figures from the city government, a sharper drop than the 14% decline the Bank of England expects for the United Kingdom as a whole.

Companies in London are expected to shed some 460,000 jobs, or about 7% of the workforce, with manufacturing, construction, retail, and accommodation and food services the hardest hit. Employment is not expected to fully recover until 2022.

With transportation severely constrained, and a potential coronavirus vaccine still many months away, the people and companies that have made London into a hub for real estate, finance, the arts, hospitality and technology are desperately trying to reinvent themselves in hopes of surviving the pandemic.

One sign of progress: pubs, restaurants and hair salons can reopen on Saturday, provided they follow social distancing guidelines.

Read the full story here.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews speaks during a press conference on July 4, in Melbourne, Australia. Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

About 3,000 people in nine public housing towers in the Australian city of Melbourne are now confined to their homes due to Covid-19 outbreaks, Victorian state Premier Daniel Andrews said Saturday.

The “hard lockdown” is effective immediately and will continue for at least five days, he said. Every resident will be tested for the coronavirus. 

Police will monitor the buildings, and no one will be allowed in or out, Andrews said. This is the first time that such an order has been issued in Australia since the pandemic began.

Two postcodes have been added to 10 areas of Melbourne already subject to a softer stay-at-home order. The hundreds of thousands of people in those 12 areas are allowed to leave their homes for “shopping for food supplies, care and care-giving, exercise, study or work if it can’t be done from home,” Andrews said.

A total of 108 new Covid-19 cases were detected in Victoria on Friday -- the state's worst day since March 21 and second-worst since the pandemic began.

As of Saturday, Australia has recorded 8,261 coronavirus cases and 104 related deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

More than 1,400 Georgia healthcare workers have petitioned the state's governor asking that he impose further restrictions to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Georgia has seen the virus surge in the past week, with the number of new cases increasing by more than 50%.

In a letter dated Thursday, the healthcare workers ask that Gov. Brian Kemp close bars and nightclubs and prohibit indoor gatherings of more than 25 people -- including at places of worship.

The letter also recommends a statewide face covering requirement and asks that the governor allow mayors and county officials to institute requirements appropriate for their jurisdictions.

Read more here.