New York Suffers Most New COVID-19 Cases Since June As US Outbreak Accelerates: Live Updates

Summary:

• New York tops 1000 cases for first time since June
• China bars some seafood imports after latest packaging incident
• Russia cases top 7k
• US suffers more than 55k new cases
• Deaths top 900 for fourth straight day

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As Dr. Fauci warns about a “problematic” surge in COVID-19 cases expected in the months ahead, New York reported more than 1,000 new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, the first time the Empire State has topped 1k new cases since June. Meanwhile, California health officials warned about rising hospitalizations related to the virus.

It comes as more than 55,000 new cases – 55,074, to be exact – were confirmed across the US yesterday, amounting to a rise of 0.8%, higher than the 0.6% 7-day average. It brought America’s total cases to 7,032,595 as of 0630ET on Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins data.

Another 948 people died across the US, marking the 4th straight day with deaths north of 900. Total fatalities have climbed to 203,746.

While New York City struggles with new ‘hotspots’ in Brooklyn and Queens, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary also saw notable increases in COVID-19 cases and/or deaths on Saturday, a sign that Western and Central Europe are tightly in the grip of a second wave. Just yesterday, Madrid officials placed more than 1 million people on lockdown, the harshest measures taken since the first wave of the pandemic in the spring.

Globally, the outbreak has reached 32,476,713 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, while the worldwide death toll hit 987,775. Yesterday, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis moved to lift restrictions on bars and restaurants, even as critics warned the virus was already accelerating at a dangerous pace.

Here’s some more COVID-19-linked news from overnight.

Canada’s two most populous provinces move to clamp down further on social gatherings in a bid to slow a second wave of coronavirus infections that since the start of the pandemic now total more than 150,000 nationwide (Source: Nikkei).

In a speech to the UN General Assembly, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison claime an inquiry into the origin of COVID-19 would help to minimize the threat of another pandemic. Australia’s support of an investigation into the pandemic has further strained the country’s relationship with Beijing (Source: Nikkei).

China will stop accepting import declarations from two Russian vessels for four weeks, after the novel coronavirus was detected on outer packaging and samples of Russian marine products, Reuters reports. The customs office on Saturday said the coronavirus was detected by authorities in the eastern coastal province of Shandong (Source: Nikkei).

Russia reported 7,523 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, with Moscow posting the most new infections since June 8. There were 169 fatalities nationwide, the most since July 29, taking the total to 20,225. New cases in Moscow rose by 1,792, up 15% from the previous day. On Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin asked people over 65 and those with chronic illnesses to stay home from Sept. 28. He also advised companies to switch as many employees as possible back to working from home (Source: Bloomberg).

Germany recorded its highest number of new Covid-19 cases since late April. Still, with 2,366 new infections in one day, the number is well below the additional cases reported by some other European countries. After the start of the new school year in Germany, around 50,000 students are currently in quarantine, Bild-Zeitung reported, citing a survey of local authorities (Source: Bloomberg).

Poland reported 1,584 coronavirus cases on Saturday, the second-highest number after the record of 1,587 on Friday, according to the nation’s health minister. As a result, a total of 85,980 cases were confirmed since the outbreak of the pandemic. Altogether 2,424 deaths were confirmed, including 32 deaths reported on Saturday (Source: Bloomberg).

Hungary reported 12 coronavirus deaths Saturday, continuing the increase in fatalities observed in the past two weeks. There were 950 additional confirmed infections, with 589 people currently being treated in hospitals. Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a Facebook video that he expects a further increase in cases. The country has enough hospital capacity and has more beds in dedicated epidemiological units in reserve, Orban added (Source: Bloomberg).