Coronavirus latest: at a glance
Key developments in the global coronavirus outbreak today include:
Global confirmed deaths near 355,000
The confirmed number of fatalities from Covid-19 around the world now stands at 354,944, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed cases is 5,682,389.
The figures, which are based on official and media reports, are likely to represent a significant underestimate of the true scale of the pandemic due to differing testing and recording regimes, as well as suspected undercounting.
US passes 100,000 confirmed deaths
According to figures from Johns Hopkins University, the US death toll as a result of Covid-19 was 100,047.
Donald Trump, the US president, had said earlier this month that such an outcome would be horrible, but with yet a considerable amount of extra deaths likely to occur the final toll could well in excess of this grim milestone.
Pressure grows on UK prime minister and chief of staff
Boris Johnson, the UK’s prime minister, remained under pressure from his own party to sack Dominic Cummings as more Conservative MPs and senior figures in the party called for the controversial adviser’s head.
At least 61 MPs out of 365 have either called for him to resign or be sacked, or have expressed anger at his actions. Penny Mordaunt, a current minister, said in a letter to a constituent that there were “inconsistencies” in Cummings’ account and apologised for how recent days have “undermined key public health messages”.
BBC drops presenter from programme after Cummings remarks
The lead presenter of the BBC’s late-night news show Newsnight, Emily Maitlis, was dropped from fronting the show on Wednesday night having delivered an address to viewers the previous evening that was seen to attack the government’s handling of Dominic Cummings’ lockdown trip to Durham.
The show’s editor, Esme Wren, denied that Maitlis had been replaced by Katie Razzall as hundreds of users of Twitter criticised the corporation.
Argentina ‘cordons off slums’ after surge in cases
Security forces in Buenos Aires cordoned off one of the city’s largest and poorest slums, stopping inhabitants from entering or leaving Villa Azul, on the outskirts of the Argentinian capital, after a surge of Covid-19 cases.
Police officers erected barriers on Monday after widespread testing was launched in Villa Azul. By Wednesday 174 of 301 tests come back positive, and officials feared the 4,000 or so inhabitants of the neighbourhood could spread the virus to other areas.
Chechen leader makes first public outing in nearly a fortnight
Chechnya’s strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov made his first public appearance in nearly a fortnight following reports that he had flown to Moscow for coronavirus treatment.
He was filmed on Tuesday in Grozny, Chechnya’s capital, holding a government meeting on the region’s response to the pandemic, and in a post on Instagram on Wednesday, he refused to say of he had contracted the virus but offered a vigorous defence of his right to fall ill.
