In Vietnam, travel in and out of Danang was shut down early Tuesday, while in Europe, Britain and Germany recommended their citizens avoid the islands and beaches of Spain due to an increase in coronavirus cases. Here’s what’s happening with the pandemic in Canada and around the world on Tuesday.
The latest:
- Vietnam suspends flights to and from Danang due to outbreak.
- International Monetary Fund approves $4.3 billion US emergency loan to South Africa.
- UN releases $100 million US from emergency fund for 10 countries’ pandemic relief.
- COVID-19 treatment drug approved for use in Canada.
- Head of Chinese CDC is injected with experimental vaccine.
- Virus-linked hunger tied to 10,000 more child deaths each month.
- Britain, Germany advise citizens against travel to Spain due to infection spike.
- Madrid makes face coverings mandatory in public places.
- Negotiations over U.S. coronavirus aid package expose gulf between Democrats, Republicans.
- Twitter temporarily restricts Donald Trump Jr. for post about controversial drug hydroxychloroquine.
- Fauci says Marlins’ virus outbreak could endanger MLB season.
As countries throughout the world begin to report COVID-19 spikes, recently opened borders are once again being closed.
In Vietnam, travel into and out of the resort city of Danang was shut down early Tuesday, while in Europe, Britain and Germany recommended their citizens avoid the islands and beaches of Spain due to an increase in cases.
At the same time, the U.K. government’s recommendation means that all travellers arriving in Britain from that country will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine. That move fanned uncertainty within Europe’s tourism industry over how to plan ahead amid authorities’ responses to new coronavirus outbreaks.
“Let’s be absolutely clear about what’s happening in Europe amongst some of our European friends. I’m afraid you are starting to see in some places the signs of a second wave of the pandemic,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said early Tuesday. He noted that there could be further changes to travel advice down the line affecting all of Europe.
In the United States, negotiations over the next coronavirus aid package are exposing a vast gulf between the Democrats’ $3 trillion proposal and a $1 trillion counter-offer from the Republicans, with millions of Americans’ jobless benefits, school reopenings and eviction protections at stake.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, said on Tuesday no coronavirus relief bill will be brought to the Senate floor without legal liability protections included in the legislation.
Democrats have opposed these provisions.
It’s unclear whether any agreement can be reached between Congress and U.S. President Donald Trump before Friday’s deadline for expiring aid.
The outcome will be a defining one for the president and the parties heading into the November election as an uneasy nation is watching and waiting for Washington to bring some end to the health crisis and devastating economic fallout.
“We cannot afford to fail,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said as the chamber opened.
At the White House, Trump reverted back to pushing unproven claims that an anti-malaria drug is an effective treatment and challenging the credibility of the nation’s leading infectious disease expert.
WATCH | Hydroxychloroquine trials halted, researchers focus on other treatments:
The WHO has suspended trials of hydroxychloroquine, the once touted COVID-19 treatment, because it doesn’t work and researchers are turning their focus to other promising treatments and the ongoing race for a vaccine. 1:56
Numerous studies have shown that the drug, hydroxychloroquine, is not an effective treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. And the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently withdrew an order that allowed the drug’s use as an emergency treatment for COVID-19.
Yet overnight, after returning from a trip to North Carolina where he promoted efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine, Trump retweeted a series of tweets advocating for hydroxychloroquine.
One of those tweets included a link to a video that called the drug a “cure” and discounted the need for face masks amid the pandemic. It was later hidden by Twitter as part of their policy to remove misleading information about COVID-19.
Twitter also limited access to Donald Trump Jr.’s account for 12 hours for breaking the same rule.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading member of the White House coronavirus task force, pushed back against Trump during an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America.
“I go along with the FDA,” said Fauci. “The overwhelming prevailing clinical trials that have looked at the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine have indicated that it is not effective in coronavirus disease.”
During the same interview, Fauci noted that the Miami Marlins’ recent coronavirus outbreak could endanger the Major League Baseball season altogether, though he doesn’t believe they need to stop entirely just yet.
With four more positive results on Tuesday, 17 of the team’s players and staff members are now confirmed to have the coronavirus.
The Marlins were due to play Baltimore on Monday and Tuesday, but Major League Base