August 28 coronavirus news

Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at the US Department of Health and Human Services, said that the White House’s Operation Warp Speed was “absolutely on track… if not a little ahead” in the race to have a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of the year.

“We’re very pleased where we are right now,” Mango added. “We obviously have two of our six vaccine candidates that are in phase three clinical trials right now. … We will have four vaccines in phase three clinical trials by the middle of next month.”

Mango added that manufacturing is already underway for three vaccines.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has previously said he’s “cautiously optimistic” the US could have safe and effective vaccine in late fall or early winter.

A medical staff member collects a swab sample from a woman at a Covid-19 mobile test center on the beach in Saint-Nic, France, on August 12.

French health authorities said the coronavirus pandemic is “growing exponentially” as they reported a record an increase of 7,379 new daily cases on Friday — the biggest increase since late March.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has only been one day with more cases recorded in 24 hours — that was on March 31, during the height of the pandemic in France. The daily increase in cases has tripled in less than a week, as French health authorities recorded less than 2,000 new cases on Monday.

Testing has greatly increased in France within the past several weeks. There were 893,146 tests reported in the past seven days, while there were 554,855 tests reported during the week of Aug. 10-16. The number of positive tests is also on the rise, rising from 3.7% on Wednesday to 3.9% today, according to French health ministry data. At the end of lockdown in early May, this number was at around 1%, according to Health Minister Olivier Véran.

In a news conference Thursday, Prime Minister Jean Castex had warned that “now is the time to intervene because the growth of the epidemic can be exponential if we don’t react.”

French health authorities also warn that “hospital indicators are on the rise.”

As of Friday, 4,535 people are hospitalized, the same number as on Thursday, and 387 are in intensive care units. About 70% of ICU patients are in the Paris area, Northern France and the Mediterranean regions of Provence and Occitanie.

A total of 30,596 people have died since the beginning of the pandemic, according to French health ministry data.

The coronavirus pandemic has had an especially harsh impact on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and they need special support, a group of specialists said Friday.

Many of these people have lost the critical support they need and cannot advocate for themselves, Dr. John Constantino, director of the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, and a group of colleagues at other institutions said. 

Web-based technology often is not helpful to them and many cannot understand what they need to do to protect themselves form the virus.

Most people with intellectual and developmental disabilities require in-person care or critical therapeutic support in their living environments, the authors say, something that many of them have temporarily lost access to during the pandemic.

Restoring this must be a first priority, but in-person staff must ensure that they protect their clients from Covid-19 infection. 

While there has been emerging guidance on the safe care and support of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, it is still evolving and has not reached all the places where it is “desperately needed.”

The authors also said that it is not always presented in a way that can be fully comprehended by the people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Vehicles wait in line at a Covid-19 testing center outside Nissan Stadium on August 3 in Nashville, Tennessee.

There have been at least 5,889,652 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 181,186 people have died from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.

So far on Friday, Johns Hopkins has recorded 21,867 new cases and 362 reported deaths. 

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

Children carry coronavirus in their noses and throats for weeks, even if they don’t show any symptoms, researchers in South Korea reported Friday. 

Although their study does not necessarily demonstrate that children are transmitting the virus to others, they suggested this might be responsible for “silent spread’ of the virus in communities.

The study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics on Friday, included data on 91 children in South Korea diagnosed with Covid-19 between Feb. 18 and March 31.

Among those patients, 20 of them — or 22% — did not show any obvious symptoms and remained asymptomatic throughout the study. Other patients experienced fever, cough, diarrhea, abdominal pain and loss of smell or taste, among other symptoms. The duration of their symptoms appeared to vary, ranging from one to 36 days.

But genetic material from the virus was detectable in the children for a mean of 17.6 days. Virus could be found in the children who had no symptoms for 14 days on average.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the children were spreading virus, Calum Semple, a professor in child health and outbreak medicine at the University of Liverpool who was not involved in the study, said in a statement distributed by the UK-based Science Media Center.

“The presence of the virus genetic material in swabs the respiratory tract need not equate with transmission, particularly in people who do not have important symptoms such as cough and sneeze,” Semple said.

It’s possible that virus persisted in the children for even longer than the time documented. And more research also is needed to determine whether similar findings would emerge among a larger group of children from other parts of the world.

The data showed that only 8.5% of those patients with symptoms were diagnosed with Covid-19 at the time their symptoms began. Most — 66.2% — of those with symptoms had symptoms that were not recognized before they were diagnosed and 25.4% developed symptoms after they were diagnosed.

Texas Christian University in Fort Worth is reporting 447 active cases of Covid-19 among students and university employees, according to the latest data posted on the schools coronavirus dashboard.

More than 300 cases were reported within the last week, the dashboard shows.

In a letter to students posted Thursday, the university’s vice chancellor for student affairs said that the availability of isolation beds was at 42%.

The university continues to see large gatherings both on and off campus, Cavins-Tull said, contributing to what she said was “a great deal” of the spread.

Spain recorded 9,779 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, the highest number since the pandemic began in the country, the Spanish health ministry’s data showed. The total number of cases in Spain has now reached 439,286.

A health ministry’s spokesperson told CNN that although the cases were notified on Friday, “some of them are not cases diagnosed in the last 24 hours. They are notifications of cases diagnosed in previous days.”

Spain has been reporting a high number of cases in the last few weeks, matching the daily increases the country saw during the peak of the pandemic. 

The Covid-19 death toll in the country rose by 15 in the last 24 hours and 129 in the last seven days. A total of 29,011 people have died from coronavirus in Spain to date.

Participants of an exercise wear protective suits as they transport a presumed Covid-19 patient to the Kutvolgyi hospital in Budapest, Hungary, on August 27.

Hungary will close the country’s borders to foreigners again next month “due to the development of the coronavirus epidemic situation,” announced the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office on Friday.

Gulyás said Hungarians returning from abroad would have to self-isolate for 14 days unless they can present two negative coronavirus tests taken two days apart.

“The safety of the most vulnerable elderly people, the safety of children preparing to start school and the smooth operation of the economy must be ensured all at once,” he added.

A man undergoes a swab test for coronavirus at a drive-through testing site of the Santa Maria della Pieta hospital in Rome on August 18.

Italy has seen a jump in total Covid-19 cases, with an increase of 1,462 cases, according to Italian Ministry of Health data released Friday.

The figure, which includes deaths and recoveries, is the highest daily increase since May 2, the ministry said. That brings Italy’s total to 265,409 cases.

Fridays Covid-19 numbers indicate a growing trend in cases in Italy over the past 10 days. 

Active positive cases have increased by 1,103 within the last day and currently stand at 23,035 active cases. Another nine people have died, bringing the death toll to 35,472, according to the ministry. 

At the moment, 74 coronavirus patients are being treated in Italian intensive care units.

A member of Secretary of Defense Mark Esper’s team traveling in the Indo-Pacific region has tested positive for Covid-19, three US officials told CNN. The delegation members learned of the positive result as they arrived in Guam on Friday, the officials said.

It is not clear if the person had any direct contact with Esper. Under standard protocols the individual would be tested again. CNN has not learned any details of further testing.

The Pentagon did not respond immediately for CNN’s request for a comment.

It is not clear how the situation will impact Department of Defense travel plans for the secretary’s return to the US, the officials say. 

Esper embarked on a trip on Aug. 25 to Hawaii, Palau and is currently in Guam.

Esper posted a video on Twitter Friday showing him laying a wreath in the waters of Palau for fallen service members in World War II. The secretary also posted a photo Thursday night of him meeting with sailors aboard the USS Essex. Esper was wearing a mask in these photos and video. 

About 65% of all K-12 Vermont students will participate in remote learning at least three or four days a week, State Commissioner Michael Pieciak said during the state’s Covid-19 news conference. 

Vermont has maintained a low infection rate for the last seven days, Pieciask said. 

Meanwhile, more than half of all out-of-state college students have been tested for Covid-19, Commissioner of Health Mark Levine said. 

Vermont will not change the state’s Covid-19 testing guidelines despite the new guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this week, Levine said. 

Residents will still be required to get tested if they think they were exposed to the virus.  

“We are watching the numbers, the data and the signs,” to see if schools and the economy will open more, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said. 

People visit Domino Park in Brooklyn, New York, on August 27.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office announced in a news release today that 0.65% of the nearly 98,000 coronavirus tests reported to New York state Thursday were positive – the lowest Covid-19 infection rate in the state since the pandemic began.

Eight million coronavirus tests have been conducted across New Yorek to date and the state’s infection rate has consistently been under 1% every day for three weeks, the governor’s office added.

“Yesterday’s data also shows that we aren’t necessarily finding more positives with more testing, which is a good new development. We aren’t out of the woods yet, so keep it up, be safe and stay New York Tough,” Cuomo said.

There have been at least 25,312 coronavirus-related deaths across New York since the start of the pandemic, the statement from the governor’s office says.

Note: The aforementioned numbers were released by the state and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

Bottles of Coca-Cola are on sale at a store in Louisville, Kentucky, on February 10.

Coca-Cola will cut thousands of jobs and reduce its number of business units as it faces declining beverage sales during the the pandemic.

Coke said Friday the job cuts would come in the form of voluntary and involuntary reductions. It plans to first offer buyouts to 4,000 employees in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico and then offer a similar voluntary program in other countries.

The number of people who take the buyout will reduce the number of involuntary layoffs, the company said.

 Coke did not say how many jobs could be lost in total, but said global severance expenses could range from $350 million to $550 million. As of Dec. 31, Coke had 86,200 employees, of which approximately 10,100 were located in the United States.

The company also said it plans to reduce its number of operating units from their current total of 17 businesses in four geographies to nine operating units in those regions.

Coke is focusing on its most popular segments that include its main Coca-Cola line and products like sports drinks, coffees and teas. It also wants to expand in growing categories such as sparkling water and plant-based drinks.

In Coca-Cola’s second quarter, which ended on June 26, the company saw sales drop 28% to $7.2 billion.

A health care worker in New Delhi, India, takes a nasal swab for a Covid-19 test on August 22.

India topped the United States’ record of coronavirus cases reported in a 24-hour period for two days in a row.

India recorded 85,687 new cases on Aug. 26 and 77,266 new cases on Aug. 27, both surpassing the United States’ highest number of new cases, which was reported on July 16, when the US reported 77,255 new cases, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU) data.

India has been focusing on ramping up testing to identify and treat potential cases of coronavirus. As of Friday, India has conducted more than 39 million tests, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research.

The Union Health Ministry on Thursday urged states to further ramp up testing, ensuring a minimum of 140 tests per million in all districts and to make public information on the availability of beds, ambulances, and more, so vulnerable patients can receive timely care, according to a statement from India’s press information bureau.

The total number of cases of coronavirus in the country stand at 3,387,500 with 61,529 deaths and 2,583,948 recoveries as of Friday, according to the Indian Ministry of Health.

People hold a sign in Washington, DC, after President Donald Trump's acceptance speech during the Republican National Convention on August 27. Sources tell CNN the moment was planned by the Democratic National Committee War Room as part of its counter-convention programming.

Protesters gathered in Washington, DC, for the final night of the Republican National Convention to call out the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

At the White House, President Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination from the White House. A massive fireworks display above the Washington Monument followed his acceptance speech.

Images from the protest showed the celebratory fireworks as protesters held up signs that read “Trump failed 180,000+ died.”

The Democratic National Committee’s War Room was responsible for the demonstration, spokesperson Lily Adams tells CNN. The DNC’s Melissa Byrne confirmed it was part of their counter convention.

At least 180,857 people have died of Covid-19 in the US since the pandemic began, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University. The US has reported the most coronavirus deaths of any county in the world.

Additional reporting from CNN’s Paul Murphy

A room is set for the first day of the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 24.

At least four people tested positive for coronavirus at the Republican National Convention, a tweet from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, says.

The tweet says “2 attendees & 2 event support people tested positive for COVID-19 at the Republican National Convention.”

A longer statement from the county says, “approximately 792 Covid-19 tests were conducted among individuals attending or providing support to the Republican National Convention (RNC) Meeting in the City of Charlotte.” Of those, four came back positive.

“These individuals were immediately issued isolation instructions and any known close contacts were notified and issued quarantine instructions by Mecklenburg County Public Health (MCPH),” the statement says. 

“Additional details about the RNC Meeting will be included in the official After Action Report, unless there is a recognized threat to the public’s health,” the county said.

The RNC responded in a statement:

Read the tweet:

A well-known coronavirus model that previously has been cited by the White House now forecasts that more than 317,000 people in the United States will die from Covid-19 by December. 

As of Friday morning, the model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington projects that 317,312 people may die from the illness — marking an increase of about 8,000 deaths from a previous estimate the model projected one week ago. 

Since January, US health authorities have identified more than 5 million Covid-19 cases so far nationwide and more than 180,000 people have died, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. 

The new IHME estimate suggests that the United States could see more than 136,000 additional deaths between now and December, and the daily death rate could rise to more than 2,000 per day.

Yet IHME researchers noted on their website on Thursday, when the update to their model was made, that “if mask wearing in public increases to 95%, more than 67,000 lives could be saved.”

The updated IHME model also shows some state-by-state differences.

“Over the last week some estimates for states such as California and Texas have decreased, while Florida, Georgia, and Illinois have increased,” the researchers wrote.

As with any model, these forecasts are only projections — not definitive — and are subject to change.

A police officer talks to a supporter of the initiative Querdenken 711 — or Lateral Thinking 711 — in Berlin's Tiergarten on August 28.

A ban on a mass protest set to take place this weekend in Berlin against the German government’s response to coronavirus has been lifted following an urgent ruling by the Berlin Administrative Court on Friday.

“The organizers must comply with conditions,” the statement added.

Earlier this week, Berlin’s state government announced that it would prohibit the demonstration from taking place, citing potential violations of the government’s coronavirus regulations.

According to the court’s statement, police anticipate more than 20,000 people will attend on Saturday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks to the media in Berlin on August 28.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that the coronavirus pandemic is “likely to get more difficult in the coming months,” cautioning that society “is never going to be the same” until a successful vaccine is developed.

“We will have to live longer with new coronavirus [cases],” she added. 

Speaking during her annual summer press conference in Berlin, Merkel stressed that the “economy should be kept alive or brought back to life,” adding that Germany will “work with the European Parliament so that the recovery fund can be launched early next year.” 

The Chancellor’s comments come just a day after the introduction of tougher measures in Germany to curb the spread of coronavirus ahead of the autumn and winter season, including new travel regulations. 

“We can see that the number of infections has risen in recent weeks…we take this increase in the summer months very seriously,” Merkel said. 

French President Emmanuel Macron waits outside Élysée Palace in Paris on August 26.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for greater coordination within the European Union on coronavirus restrictions and border regulations, asserting that it would be “absurd” to impose tougher border restrictions within the bloc.

“It makes no sense to close the borders between two countries when there are outbreaks of infection, areas of active circulation, which are well identified. There is a need for a common methodology to define these areas of active circulation, and to address them within each country,” Macron said Friday. 

Speaking during a televised address on Friday, the French President urged his European partners to focus on developing a unified approach which “allows Europe to not to be at a standstill” as a result of the pandemic.

“There is still progress to be made to improve coordination. Let’s not repeat the mistakes of March in this regard, it is counterproductive and, above all, it is ineffective in the fight against the virus and its spread,” Macron said. 

Europe is grappling with a second coronavirus surge. Here’s how it’s playing out across the continent:  

Spain

The country recorded its highest number of cases since the lockdown lifted on Thursday, with 9,658 new infections. Fernando Simón, director of the country’s Center for Health Emergencies, attempted to allay concerns, saying the “situation is completely different to the one we had in March or April.” 

Extra measures have been put in place to bolster the school system, including mask mandates for all students over the age of six. Other new measures announced on Thursday includes a bubble system in schools, students having to disinfect their hands five times a day, and regular classroom sanitization. Some Spanish regions have placed a cap of 20 students per classroom.

France

A compulsory mask rule came into force in Paris and its suburbs on Friday, which means over 7 million Parisians will have to wear a face covering in public – even when on a bike or scooter.

On Thursday, France saw the highest number of new cases since March 31 – the peak of the epidemic – with 6,111 new cases. Prime Minister Jean Castex also declared 21 “red zones” across the country, which refers to areas where the active cases have exceeded 50 per 100,000 people.

A face mask mandate began in the Paris region on Friday.

UK

The UK continues to be hit by local outbreaks, with 75 positive cases in a poultry factory in Norfolk, eastern England. Hundreds of workers at the Banham poultry facility have been told to self-isolate as a result of the 22% infection rate. 

The UK removed the Czech Republic, Jamaica and Switzerland from its travel corridor list on Thursday, in a bid to keep infections down. Yet cases are also rising in the country, which reported 1,522 new infections on Thursday, the highest number since June 12.

Italy

Italy is also observing an upward trend with 1,179 positive new cases reported on Thursday, the highest number since May 6, and five deaths.

Ireland

Some 93 new cases were recorded by Ireland’s Health Protection Service Surveillance Center on Thursday. The Irish government remains watchful after a spike in cases during the last fortnight prompted a tightening of social distancing measures.

Germany

Germany recorded 1,507 cases on Thursday, according to the Robert Koch Institute, which noted the marked rise in cases in a number of federal states.

The institute also predicted that by early 2021 there will be a successful vaccine candidate ready for production. It noted, however, that there will not be enough initial doses available for the entire population.

People protest the government's Covid-19 quarantine policies in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Aug. 17, 2020.

Argentina’s coronavirus outbreak shows no sign of easing. According to figures from its health ministry, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases there has doubled since July 31, and its death toll has doubled since August 4.

On Thursday, 10,104 new cases were reported – bringing the total of cases to 380,292. The health ministry also reported 106 deaths but, over the past week, the daily average of deaths has been over 200. 

Argentina has reported a total of 8,050 deaths, the majority recorded in the capital, Buenos Aires, and its surrounding province of the same name. The same applies to the number of cases recorded: 327,000 of the 380,000 cases identified so far are in Buenos Aires city and province. 

The government has extended lockdown measures in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. 

The Philippines reported 3,999 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, according to data from its health department.

This brings the country’s tally to 209,544 confirmed cases – 71,745 of which are active cases, according to the health department.

There were 91 virus-related deaths recorded there on Friday, pushing the national death toll up to 3,325 since the outbreak began. More than 2.3 million coronavirus tests have been done in the country.

Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising collected more than 300 Covid-related ads from 21 e-cigarette brands and 41 online stores for its study

A free roll of toilet paper with your vape? How about hand sanitizer?

Vaping companies – long criticized for marketing that appealed to kids and implied their products were less harmful than smoking – are now under the microscope for seizing on the Covid-19 pandemic to sell their products.

Some have launched promotions offering free toilet paper, face masks or hand sanitizer with a qualifying purchase, according to a new paper published Thursday in the journal Tobacco Control.

“While we thought we’d seen it all, we never imagined that we’d see tobacco companies exploiting a global pandemic for marketing purposes,” study author Dr. Robert Jackler told CNN in an exclusive interview.

Jackler founded the group Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising, which has collected more than 300 Covid-related ads from 21 e-cigarette brands and 41 online stores.

“They offer their hand sanitizer in the same little bottle,” Jackler said. “You can very easily accidentally think that that’s for use in vaping. You pour 70% alcohol in the vaporizer, breathe it in, can do some serious harm to your lungs.”

Read more:

Images archived by Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising

Related article Vaping ad tactics 'exploited' the pandemic, study says

Migrants board the MS GNV Azzurra quarantine ship at the Italian island of Lampedusa on August 4.

In a year of tragedies, Europe’s shores are seeing some of the most horrifying scenes: bodies washing up on beaches as desperate families make hazardous journeys in search of a safe home.

Coronavirus has left countries such as Tunisia facing serious economic hardship and unemployment, while others, including Libya, are dealing with the effects of war. That’s led to an increase in sea arrivals this year in countries including Italy and Malta, according to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Arrivals in southeastern Europe are also up on 2019, mostly from Syria, followed by Morocco and Iraq.

Last week, a man was found dead on Sangatte beach, near Calais in northern France. He and a friend had tried to cross the English Channel, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, in an inflatable dinghy with shovels for paddles. The friend said he was just 16, but French authorities said his papers belonged to a 28-year-old Sudanese migrant and an autopsy showed he was an adult. He couldn’t swim, his companion said.

Read more:

A boat is brought into Dover, Kent by Border Force officers on August 15.

Related article Europe's migrant crisis is worsening during the pandemic. The reaction has been brutal

The UK government is telling people to go back to their workplaces, just a day after the country registered its highest daily increase in new coronavirus cases in months. 

“Our central message is pretty straightforward: we’re saying to people it is now safe to return to work,” UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said during an interview on Friday. 

Speaking to the BBC, the government minister asserted that the UK has “got the rate of infection down” and encouraged citizens to return to their offices. 

However, his comments come a day after the UK reported 1,522 new cases, and the highest daily increase in new infections since June 12.

According to government data, a further 12 deaths were recorded on Thursday, bringing the UK’s official coronavirus death toll to 41,477.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks to the media following a virtual meeting with governors of Germany's 16 states at the Chancellery during the coronavirus pandemic in Berlin, on August 27

Germany will introduce tougher measures to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country ahead of the autumn and winter season, including new travel regulations, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Thursday.

Speaking during a news conference after a meeting with federal and state government leaders, Merkel added that Germany has ”come through this pandemic well” so far, but cautioned that new measures would be needed to tackle the rise in the infection rate.

The new restrictions include:

Latest numbers: Confirmed Covid-19 cases have, over recent weeks, risen to levels not seen since the end of April in Germany. On Friday, the country’s public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute, confirmed that at least 1,571 new infections had been recorded, bringing the total to 239,507 cases and 9,288 deaths since the beginning of the outbreak.

Concerns over the spike in cases have also led authorities in Berlin to ban a protest planned to take place this weekend against the German government’s coronavirus restrictions, citing concerns over hygiene regulations; organizers, however, say they will continue to demonstrate, in defiance of the ban. 

Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving Japanese prime minister in history, has resigned, citing health reasons.

Abe suffers from colitis, a non-curable inflammatory bowel disease, which was also a factor in his sudden resignation as prime minister in 2007, ending his first term after just over a year in office. On Monday morning, Abe visited Keio University Hospital in Tokyo for what was his second hospital visit in a week.

“For almost eight years I controlled my chronic disease, however, this year in June I had a regular check-up and there was a sign of the disease,” Abe said. “I made a judgment that I should not continue my job as prime minister” he said. “I need to fight against the disease and need to be treated.”

Abe had been expected to hold a news conference on Friday to update on the coronavirus situation in Japan.

See a lookback at Shinzo Abe’s political career:

Read the full story:

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wearing a face mask arrives at Keio University Hospital for a clinical examination in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo on August 24, 2020, amid continuing worries over the new coronavirus COVID-19. Abe's term as Prime Minister has reached 2799 days, the longest continuous incumbency in constitutional history. Abe's term of office will be until the end of September in 2021. ( The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images )

Related article Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to resign for health reasons: NHK

The voluntary mass testing of citizens for coronavirus in Hong Kong will begin on September 1, the city’s top official said on Friday.

Tests will be free of charge for residents of the city, home to around 7.5 million people, which has been grappling in recent weeks with a third wave of Covid-19 infections, said Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

Any Hong Kong resident with no symptoms, except children under the age of 6 and people with bad throat or nasal conditions, can join the testing program, Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip said. The testing will last for seven days, after which the government will review the program and announce whether to extend it for another week.

Community testing centers will be set up across 18 city districts to collect samples, Nip explained. Residents will have to register online before getting tested.

Lam added that China’s central government helped in launching the mass testing program, providing extra laboratories and staff.

Hong Kong confirmed 27 new cases of Covid-19 on Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases identified in the city to 4,631.

People walk through the Myeongdong shopping district in Seoul, South Korea, on August 27.

South Korea tightened its coronavirus restrictions in the greater Seoul metropolitan area on Friday in an effort to curb a resurgence of the epidemic.

Starting from August 30, franchise cafes will be able to provide takeout service only, while restaurants and bakeries must stop eat-in service in between 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said in a briefing on Friday. 

Gyms and indoor sporting facilities will be shuttered, according to Park. The measure will be effective from August 30 until September 6.

Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said the second-highest level of social distancing measures will be maintained in greater Seoul for one more week.

Under these measures, now due to expire September 6, indoor gatherings are limited to 50 and outdoor gatherings to 100. 

The latest outbreak in the country has been linked to churches in Seoul and the neighboring provinces. Members of religious groups have been criticized for withholding key information and obstructing public health authorities in their fight against the pandemic.

Chung said enacting the highest social distancing level 3 measures would be a last resort for the country, considering the strong impact that would have on society.

Latest numbers: South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 371 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, 359 of which were locally transmitted.

Among the new cases, 145 are from Seoul, 112 from its surrounding Gyeonggi province and 27 from nearby Incheon City.

South Korea has recorded a total of 19,077 Covid-19 cases, including 316 deaths, according to the KCDC.

This post has been updated to reflect that the new measures apply to the greater Seoul metropolitan area.

Tokyo’s total number of confirmed coronavirus cases topped 20,000 on Thursday after the Japanese capital recorded a further 250 infections, according to the metropolitan government.

In response, the local government said Thursday that it would extend an appeal to restaurants serving alcohol and bars to voluntarily shorten their hours until September 15. The request to close by 10 p.m. was set to end August 31.

The government will pay a cash handout of 150,000 yen ($1,410) to businesses that comply, according to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.

Growing caseload: The new Tokyo cases were among 872 new infections and 12 virus-related deaths recorded nationwide on Thursday, according to Japan’s Health Ministry.

That takes the nationwide total to 66,285 confirmed cases, including 1,251 fatalities.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wearing a face mask arrives at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, on August 28.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe intends to resign due to health issues, according to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, citing sources close to Abe.

A government aide told CNN he heard that Abe has conveyed his desire to resign. Abe had been expected to hold a news conference later on Friday to update on the coronavirus situation in Japan.

On Monday morning, Abe visited Keio University Hospital in Tokyo for what was his second hospital visit in a week. Abe suffers from colitis, a non-curable inflammatory bowel disease, which forced him to resign during his first stint as the country’s leader from 2006 to 2007. He became Prime Minister again in 2012.

Abe is Japan’s longest-serving head of government in terms of consecutive days in office.

Coronavirus criticism: Japan has recorded more than 66,000 Covid-19 cases, and has struggled to get the pandemic under control despite being among the very first countries to be hit by the virus. Throughout the summer, as the rest of East Asia has moved to control the pace of infections, Japan’s outbreak has spiked, with more than half of all cases being recorded since July.

Many people have expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of the virus, from a slow initial response and refusal to acknowledge the crisis, which many saw as linked to a desire to avoid canceling or postponing the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (since pushed to next year), to the ongoing failure to take sufficient action to rein in cases.

This is a developing story. Read more updates here:

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wearing a face mask arrives at Keio University Hospital for a clinical examination in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo on August 24, 2020, amid continuing worries over the new coronavirus COVID-19. Abe's term as Prime Minister has reached 2799 days, the longest continuous incumbency in constitutional history. Abe's term of office will be until the end of September in 2021. ( The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images )

Related article Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to resign for health reasons: NHK

Iran’s Health Ministry reported 2,190 new coronavirus cases and 117 new deaths on Thursday, according to state-run news agency IRNA.

Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said the total number of confirmed cases in the country had reached 367,796, including 21,137 deaths, IRNA reported. 

Lari said 3,822 Covid-19 patients are in critical condition and being treated in intensive care units. 

Iran, the original epicenter of the outbreak in the Middle East, has recorded more coronavirus cases and deaths than any other country in the region.

A further 45,966 new coronavirus cases and 1,116 virus-related fatalities were recorded in the United States on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

That brings the nationwide total to at least 5,867,785 confirmed Covid-19 infections, including 180,824 deaths.

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

CNN is tracking US coronavirus cases:

Peru’s high coronavirus death rate – the second highest in the world according to data from Johns Hopkins University – is due to the country’s transparency with the statistics, a senior Peruvian official said. 

Peru has recorded 88 deaths per 100,000 citizens, according to the university’s Coronavirus Resource Center, marginally ahead of Belgium and behind only the microstate of San Marino in northern Italy.

Martos said a study is underway into people who had died and been diagnosed with coronavirus “even when they may have died from other causes or other diseases.”

As of Wednesday, the Peruvian Ministry of Health had confirmed a total of 613,378 coronavirus cases, including 28,124 deaths.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday said the country’s public finances are “going to sink” should the government scheme providing emergency coronavirus stipends to the country’s poor continue in its current form.

During his weekly Facebook live webcast, Bolsonaro spoke about the talks he is having with Brazil’s Economy Minister Paulo Guedes about the country’s growing fiscal deficit.

Brazil, Latin’s America’s largest economy, currently gives 600 reais ($107) per month to its poor as emergency payment due to the pandemic, a value agreed by Congress earlier this year, despite Bolsonaro wanting to give only give 200 reais a month.

“Some people criticize me … but Brazil is accumulating a (huge) debt. (The government gives out) 50 billion reais a month. Do you know how much that is?” he said.

Bolsonaro said he has given the economy minister until Friday this week to come up with a new plan to provide the financial assistance.

Virus hotspot: Brazil has recorded more than 3.76 million Covid-19 cases, with a total of 118,649 deaths, according to the country’s Health Ministry. Only the United States has recorded more coronavirus cases and deaths globally. 

Cases of novel coronavirus in Latin America topped 7 million on Thursday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center and CNN calculations. 

The current number of known Covid-19 cases confirmed in the region is now 7,020,744.

Brazil has reported the highest number of infections in Latin America with 3,761,391. The country has identified the second-highest number of confirmed cases in the world after the United States. 

Countries following Brazil with the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Latin America are Peru, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile.

CNN is tracking worldwide coronavirus cases there:

An ensemble forecast published by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now projects more than 200,000 coronavirus deaths in the US by September 19.

The new projections, published Thursday, forecast 200,292 deaths by September 19, with a possible range of 195,824 to 207,269 deaths.

Unlike some individual models, the CDC’s ensemble forecast only offers projections about a month into the future. The previous ensemble forecast, published August 20, projected roughly 195,000 coronavirus deaths by September 12.

At least 180,590 people have already died from Covid-19 in the US, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

CNN is tracking US Covid-19 cases and deaths here:

A pedestrian wearing a face mask amid the coronavirus pandemic uses a parasol in Havana, Cuba, on Monday, August 10.

For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit Cuba, Havana residents will be subjected to a nightly curfew and not be allowed to travel to other provinces in the country, Havana Governor Reinaldo Garcia Zapata announced Thursday.

Cuba’s ruling Communist Party has struggled to control a second wave of Covid-19 in Havana, just weeks after declaring the country was closing in on the tail end of the pandemic.

The curfew from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. will begin on September 1 and last for at least 15 days, Zapata said.

Zapata said penalties for people not wearing a mask would be increased and the consumption of alcohol in public would be banned.

Cuba, with a population of 11 million, has so far registered 3,806 coronavirus cases and 92 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Brazil reported 44,235 new coronavirus cases and 984 deaths in the past 24 hours, its Health Ministry said on Thursday.

The country has recorded more than 3.76 million Covid-19 cases, with a total of 118,649 deaths so far, according to the ministry. 

Brazil continues to be second only to the United States in the highest total number of coronavirus cases and deaths globally. 

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced the purchase of 150 million rapid Covid-19 tests on Twitter Thursday afternoon.

“This is a major development that will help our country to remain open, get Americans back to work, and kids back to school!” McEnany tweeted.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the deal with Abbott Laboratories is worth $750 million.

Some background: Abbott Labs received emergency approval yesterday from the US Food and Drug Administration for its rapid antigen test, which can detect a Covid-19 infection in 15 minutes.

The FDA’s emergency use authorization is for Abbott’s BinaxNOW Covid-19 Ag Card. The size of a credit card, BinaxNOW will cost $5 and will come with a free mobile app that will let people who test negative display a temporary, date-stamped health pass that is renewed each time a new test is taken.

The antigen test, which involves a nasal swab, uses the same type of technology as a flu test. Abbott says it anticipates producing 50 million BinaxNOW tests a month by October.

“The massive scale of this test and app will allow tens of millions of people to have access to rapid and reliable testing,” said Joseph Petrosino, a professor of virology at Baylor College of Medicine, in a statement released by Abbott.

With reporting from CNN’s David Goldman, Andrea Kane and Nadia Kounang.

The United Kingdom reported its highest number of new daily Covid-19 cases since June 12, with 1,522 new infections on Thursday, according to government data. 

The number of new confirmed cases on Thursday is an increase from 1,048 new cases reported Wednesday and 1,184 new cases reported Tuesday. 

The cumulative total of coronavirus cases has risen to 330,368, according to government data. A further 12 deaths have been recorded, bringing the UK’s official death toll to 41,477.

Meanwhile, the country removed the Czech Republic, Jamaica and Switzerland from its list of “travel corridor” countries, meaning people arriving from those nations will now be required to quarantine for 14 days, transport secretary Grant Shapps said in a series of Thursday tweets.

The UK has also added Cuba to the list of countries exempt from the 14-day quarantine.

The new restrictions will go into effect for people arriving after 4 a.m. local time on Saturday (11 p.m. ET Friday).