Number of Covid-19 cases in Paris jumps six-fold since beginning of month

People in Paris wait in line outside a laboratory to get tested for Covid-19 on August 8. Michel Euler/AP

The number of daily new Covid-19 cases in the Paris region has increased to six times what it was at the beginning of the month, the French health authority told CNN on Tuesday.

Covid-19 has also progressed dramatically in the Marseille region, the number of positive cases for the Bouches-du-Rhone department standing now at 78 per 100,000 residents in the past seven days, from only 46 at the beginning of the month. French authorities pointed out that the virus is actively circulating in both Paris and Marseille.

“In mainland France, the number of new cases of COVID per 100,000 inhabitants is increasing in all age groups,” the health authority said of the numbers reported in a news release on Monday.

“For the period Aug. 8-14 the 2.9% of tests done have positive results, this is an increase that is particularly marked among 25-35 year old.”

“At the same time, the number of people hospitalized for COVID has been on the rise for 3 weeks, especially among those under 40,” a spokesperson said.

Almost half of people who tested positive for the virus had no symptoms but were therefore likely to pass Covid-19 to their close contacts, the spokesperson added.

Less than a third (28%) of people who tested positive for Covid-19 reported symptoms of the virus, a survey by the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found.

In the analysis published Tuesday, the ONS found that although "those reporting symptoms are much more likely to have contracted the virus," only 28% reported any evidence of symptoms at the time of their swab test or at either the preceding or subsequent swab test.

The analysis was based on data from 165 individuals in England who tested positive for Covid-19 from nose and throat swabs, as part of the Coronavirus Infection Survey.

Some 72% of positive cases either did not report having any of the specific or general symptoms on the day of their positive swab test, preceding swab test or subsequent swab test or did not answer both questions, ONS reported.

"This suggests there is a potentially large number of asymptomatic cases, but it is important to note that symptoms were self-reported rather than professionally diagnosed," the authors reported.

Vivian Ekchian, the Glendale Unified Schools superintendent. Stephanie Becker/CNN

Most schools in California will not be reopening for in-person education this month -- but one superintendent in the Los Angeles area has come up with a plan to welcome some students back to class. And it doesn't involve their teachers.

On August 19, when Glendale Unified School District kicks off the academic year, 20 of the district's elementary schools will open some empty classrooms for remote learning.

But instead of the traditional 24 students per classroom, there will be no more than 12. School officials are calling the group a "technology pod," which will be supervised by a single substitute teacher or district staffer.

The staffers won't be teaching the students -- they will instead be present to offer computer technical assistance, monitor students' mask use, enforce social distancing and keep students focused on their work.

Superintendent Vivian Ekchian said she came up with the idea after noticing that many young children of essential workers didn't have proper childcare when schools were forced to pivot to remote learning in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Read the full story here.

Mercy Eyo, one of the NDDC scholars who did not receive her scholarship funds. John Essien

When Nigerian student Mercy Eyo landed a foreign postgraduate scholarship in July 2019, she had just lost her father. A year earlier, her mother had passed away.

She was elated about the prospect of starting a master's degree in global health care management at Coventry University, in the United Kingdom, with a scholarship from a Nigerian government agency.

"I was super excited ... I felt it was a consolation that would change my life forever," Eyo said.

However, that dream has turned into a nightmare for Eyo who said she is now living a hand-to-mouth existence and awaiting scholarship funds that have failed to arrive 12 months later.

Eyo, from Bonny Island, southeastern Nigeria, is one of more than 200 students who landed a scholarship through Nigeria's Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in 2019.

CNN has seen a scholarship letter dated July 29, email exchanges between her and the awarding body and scanned copies of the letters she sent to the commission in December 2019 requesting funds to process her travel arrangements.

She was told to make her way abroad and the money would later follow, but despite selling her laptops, phones and other valuable properties, Eyo wasn't able to raise her travel funds and visa processing fees and lost her place at the Coventry University.

She remains in Nigeria with no signs of the funds promised to her.

Other scholarship students from Nigeria that CNN spoke to were able to make their way abroad. But they are also still waiting for the promised funds.

Students recently held protests at the Nigerian High Commission Office in London. The protesters caught the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari who, on August 4, ordered the NDDC to immediately pay the outstanding sums owed to the students. 

The NDDC promised to pay the fees by the end of that week, but so far, none of the students CNN spoke to has received their outstanding payment.

CNN has contacted NDDC to find out why the payments to the students has still not been made two weeks after the President's order. The NDDC has not yet responded to the request for comment.

Read the full story here.

Fans enter Soldier Field in Chicago on September 5, 2019, for a Chicago Bears game against the Green Bay Packers. Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

The Chicago Bears will not play home games in front of fans when the 2020 NFL season begins, the team announced on Monday.

Discussions between the Bears and the City of Chicago had been taking place about hosting a limited number of fans at Soldier Field amid the Covid-19 pandemic. That initiative was, though, deemed unsafe for now.

“The health and safety of the city's residents and fans of the Bears will always take priority. The team and City will continue to monitor the environment and believe there can be a sound plan in place to bring fans back to Soldier Field once it is deemed safe and appropriate. Until then, Bears home games will not include in-person fans,” it added.

The Bears are scheduled to play their first home game of the 2020 season on Sunday 20 September against the New York Giants -- their only home game in September.

Public officials disinfect a church in Seoul, South Korea, on August 18. Lee Ji-eun/Yonhap/AP

All in-person church services will be suspended in light of the recent virus outbreak in South Korea's capital city and surrounding provinces, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Tuesday.

In a televised address, Chung said that South Korea was at a critical crossroads, where failure to contain the current cluster would lead to a nationwide epidemic.

The number of virus cases remained in triple digits, with 246 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the South Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday. 

Seoul church cluster: Tracing congregations who attended church services is proving difficult in South Korea, Chung said, as inaccurate attendee lists made it hard to contact trace after a cluster was identified.

On Monday, Seoul's government reported a cluster of cases related to a church in the city. More than 450 people linked to the Sarang-jeil church have tested positive for the virus, authorities said. 

Chung said that church members are spread throughout the country increasing "the possibility of transmission to other districts."

Online church services would be permitted but all other gatherings and events were banned, Chung said.

Churches are among 12 high-risk venues which will be shuttered. Clubs, karaoke bars, buffet restaurants, and internet cafes will also be closed in Seoul, the neighboring Gyeonggi Province and Incheon.

The city of Seoul, Greater Seoul and the neighboring Gyeonggi Province are subject to level two social distancing restrictions, meaning indoor gatherings are limited to 50 and outdoor gatherings to 100. 

Faster tests combined with a "robust" immune response against Covid-19 could soon mean a slower spread, researchers said.

Tests have been delayed and in short supply as the United States surpassed 5.4 million cases, leaving many uncertain about their risk of spreading the virus. And as researchers rush to develop vaccines, they've had little evidence to tell if antibodies that protect against Covid-19 last long enough to get the virus under control.

But developments from researchers Monday brought optimistic outlooks to both fronts.

Faster testing: SalivaDirect, a test that does not require specialized supplies and can deliver results in under three hours, could be available to the public in a matter of weeks, according to Anne Wyllie, an epidemiologist at Yale School of Public Health who was part of the team responsible for the protocol.

On immunity: Though many are in early stages and have not been peer-reviewed, a recent batch of studies show that humans have a "robust" immune response to coronavirus that could provide evidence that a vaccine may protect the public for more than just a short period of time, said Dr. Ian Lipkin, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

"This is very good news and it's optimistic," said Lipkin. "You know, it is a bit of blue sky that we've been looking for."

How long that protection lasts is still unclear, but the studies indicate it could last for months.

Read more:

People watch a performance at a water park in Wuhan, China, on August 15. STR/AFP/China OUT/Getty Images

More than 774,000 people have died from the coronavirus, and more than 21.9 million cases of the virus have been reported around the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Here's the latest:

Wuhan hosts massive water park party: Wuhan was ground zero in the coronavirus pandemic with the world's first -- and arguably strictest -- lockdown. Now, the central Chinese city appears to have moved on from the virus, as thousands of revelers gathered in an open air water park over the weekend for an electronic music festival -- without any masks or social distancing measures in sight.

"Critical" week for South Korea: Seoul is now experiencing the "early stages of massive recurrence" of the virus, South Korea's Vice Health Minister Kim Ganglip said Tuesday, as a church cluster spreads in the capital, including to other churches, medical facilities and call centers. Yesterday, Seoul's government reported a cluster of cases related to a church, with more than 450 people linked to the Sarang-jeil church testing positive for the virus. This week could be the "critical turning point" of whether the city's cluster becomes a nationwide epidemic, Kim added.

New Zealand PM hits back at Trump: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday responded to US President Donald Trump's comments calling the country's surge in Covid-19 cases "terrible." "I don't think there's any comparison between New Zealand's current cluster and the tens of thousands of cases that are being seen daily in the United States," Ardern told reporters. "Obviously, every country is experiencing its own fight with Covid-19; it is a tricky virus, but not one where I would compare New Zealand's current status to the United States."

Younger patients driving virus surge in Asia-Pacific: Several countries in the Asia-Pacific region have entered a "new phase of the pandemic," World Health Organization (WHO) officials said Tuesday. Dr. Takeshi Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, said that people in their 20s, 30s and 40s are increasingly driving the spread of the virus. Patients in these age groups are more likely to have mild or no symptoms -- a cause the concern, as the virus becomes harder to detect early enough to prevent its spread.

Finnish PM to be tested: Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin will be tested for Covid-19 after experiencing mild flu symptoms, she announced in a tweet on Tuesday.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin attends a press conference in Berlin on February 19. Janine Schmitz/Photothek/Getty Images

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin will be tested for Covid-19 after experiencing mild flu symptoms, she announced in a tweet on Tuesday.

“I have mild respiratory symptoms,” Marin wrote, announcing that she’d be working from home until she was tested for the virus.

According to Päivi Anttikoski, the Director General of the government’s communications department, Marin only experienced “mild flu symptoms,” not “straight Covid-19 symptoms,” but has nonetheless been working from Kesäranta, her official residence in Helsinki, while she awaits the test.

On Monday, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare reported that “nationally, the number of new infections remains relatively low, but the number of reported cases and incidence have increased notably compared to the low figures at the beginning of July.”

A further 52 cases were reported on Monday with the Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital districts reporting the largest increases, the report also said.

In relative terms, Finland has reported 5.0 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the past 14 days, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.