Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to key eventsSkip to navigation

Netherlands reports record case rise – as it happened

This article is more than 3 years old

This blog is now closed. Follow the latest updates at our new blog below:

 Updated 
Tue 29 Sep 2020 18.51 EDTFirst published on Mon 28 Sep 2020 18.29 EDT
A second wave of coronavirus patients has begun to arrive at Albert Schweitzer hospital in Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
A second wave of coronavirus patients has begun to arrive at Albert Schweitzer hospital in Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte/REX/Shutterstock
A second wave of coronavirus patients has begun to arrive at Albert Schweitzer hospital in Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte/REX/Shutterstock

Live feed

Key events
Dominic Rushe
Dominic Rushe

Here now is the full story on the layoffs at Disney:

Walt Disney announced it was laying off 28,000 employees from its theme park business on Tuesday, the latest company to announce huge jobs cuts in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The entertainment company blamed limited attendance at the theme parks it has reopened and the continuing closure of others for the “difficult decision”.

Disney’s theme parks in Florida, Paris, Shanghai, Japan and Hong Kong have been reopened with limited capacity but both its parks in California remain closed as Orange county, home to Disneyland, struggles to meet local health metrics for reopening.

The majority of the positions Disney is cutting are part-time. “As heartbreaking as it is to take this action, this is the only feasible option we have in light of the prolonged impact of Covid-19 on our business,” wrote D’Amaro.

Disney lost $4.72bn in the three months ended on 27 June, its first quarterly loss in nearly two decades. The reopening of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, has also proved disappointing as Covid-19 cases surge in the state:

Share
Updated at 

Disney to lay off about 28,000 parks employees due to coronavirus hit

Disney will lay off roughly 28,000 employees in its theme parks division, the company said, as its resorts struggle with limited attendance amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Disney has reopened all of its parks except California’s Disneyland. About two-thirds of the laid-off employees are part-time workers, the company said in a statement.

A man takes a photo outside the gates of the closed Disneyland Park in California. Photograph: David McNew/AFP/Getty Images

Disney shut its theme parks around the world when the coronavirus began spreading earlier this year. All but Disneyland gradually reopened, though the company was forced to limit the number of visitors to allow for social distancing.

“We have made the very difficult decision to begin the process of reducing our workforce at our Parks, Experiences and Products segment at all levels,” Josh D’Amaro, chairman of the parks unit, said in a statement.

He cited the parks’ limited capacity and continued uncertainty about the duration of the pandemic, which he said was “exacerbated in California by the state’s unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen”.

Share
Updated at 

World Bank announces $12bn plan for poor countries to buy Covid vaccines

Larry Elliott
Larry Elliott

The World Bank has announced plans for a $12bn (£9.3bn) initiative that will allow poor countries to purchase Covid-19 vaccines to treat up to 2 billion people as soon as effective drugs become available.

In an attempt to ensure that low-income countries are not frozen out by wealthy nations, the organisation is asking its key rich-nation shareholders to back a scheme that will disburse cash over the next 12 to 18 months.

David Malpass, the World Bank president, said the initiative was needed because Covid-19 was having a much bigger impact on low and middle income countries than on the developed world.

Having this finance available will be a game changer because once a safe and effective vaccine is available it will allow people to resume their lives with confidence.

Results from an early safety study of Moderna coronavirus vaccine candidate in older adults showed that it produced virus-neutralising antibodies at levels similar to those seen in younger adults, with side effects roughly on par with high-dose flu shots, researchers said.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, offers a more complete picture of the vaccine’s safety in older adults, a group at increased risk of severe complications from Covid-19.

The findings are reassuring because immunity tends to weaken with age, Dr Evan Anderson, one of the study’s lead researchers from Emory University in Atlanta, said.

The study was an extension of Moderna’s Phase I safety trial, first conducted in individuals aged 18-55. It tested two doses of Moderna’s vaccine - 25 micrograms and 100 micrograms - in 40 adults aged 56 to 70 and 71 and older.

Overall, the team found that in older adults who received two injections of the 100 microgram dose 28 days apart, the vaccine produced immune responses roughly in line with those seen in younger adults.

Moderna is already testing the higher dose in a large Phase III trial, the final stage before seeking emergency authorisation or approval.

Side effects, which included headache, fatigue, body aches, chills and injection site pain, were deemed mainly mild to moderate.

In at least two cases, however, volunteers had severe reactions.

One developed a grade three fever, which is classified as 39°C or above, after receiving the lower vaccine dose. Another developed fatigue so severe it temporarily prevented daily activities, Anderson said.

Typically, side effects occurred soon after receiving the vaccine and resolved quickly, he said.

“This is similar to what a lot of older adults are going to experience with the high dose influenza vaccine,” Anderson said. “They might feel off or have a fever.”

North Korea now has the coronavirus “under safe and stable control,” the country’s UN ambassador, Kim Song, told the United Nations General Assembly.

“Thanks to the far-sighted leadership of the government of the DPRK ... the anti-epidemic situation in our country is now under safe and stable control,” said Kim, using the initials of his country’s formal name - the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Coronavirus cases among young adults rose steadily across the US in recent weeks as universities reopened, suggesting the need for this group to take more measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, a US health agency said.

Universities that want to reopen for in-person learning need to implement mitigation steps such as mask wearing and social distancing to curb the spread of the virus among young adults, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a report.

Between 2 August and 5 September, weekly cases of Covid-19 among people aged 18 to 22 rose 55.1%. The Northeast region recorded a 144% increase in Covid-19 cases, while Midwest cases rose 123.4%, the report said.

The uptick in cases was not solely attributable to increased testing and could be linked to some universities resuming in-person attendance, the CDC researchers said. They also said transmission could also be among young adults not attending college.

Previous reports identify young adults as being less likely to adhere to prevention measures, the report said.

In a separate study published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) on Tuesday, researchers reported a rapid rise of Covid-19 cases two weeks after a North Carolina university opened its campus to students.

The study found that between 3 August and 25 August, the university reported 670 laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19, with preliminary investigations finding that student gatherings and congregate living settings likely contributed to the spread.

On 19 August, classes moved online and the school began to reduce density of on-campus housing. No Covid-19 patient from the university was hospitalised or had died, the researchers said.

The authors of both studies suggest the need for enhanced measures to reduce transmission among young adults and at institutes of higher education.

Share
Updated at 

The chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, the world’s largest maker of vaccines, said she was optimistic the industry will be able to make an immunisation against Covid-19 widely available next year.

“I share the optimism that we will have solutions next year. The challenge here is getting to the scale that is required,” GSK CEO Emma Walmsley said at an online event of the Confederation of British Industry.

“Lots of progress has also been made for therapeutics,” she added.

France has reported 8,051 new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, up sharply from Monday’s 4,070.

The number of people in France who have died from Covid-19 infections rose by 85, versus 81 on Monday, taking the total death toll to 31,893.

The cumulative number of cases now totals 550,690.

As of Tuesday a total of 6,500 people were hospitalised for a Covid-19 infection in France, 85 more over 24 hours. This included 1,204 patients in intensive care units, a rise of 40 since Monday.

The government has recently ramped up measures aimed at containing the resurgence of the virus and avoiding a second national lockdown.

Share
Updated at 

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has called for the European parliament to return to its seat in Strasbourg as soon as possible, after meetings were moved to Brussels amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“I strongly defend the idea that the European parliament should meet in Strasbourg,” Macron told students in Vilnius on the second day of a Lithuanian visit.

If we accept that the European parliament meets only in Brussels we are screwed, because in ten years everything will be in Brussels. And people will be talking only among themselves in Brussels. This is not the idea of Europe.

On Monday, the European parliament Speaker, David Sassoli, said MEPs will not be returning to Strasbourg just yet, despite a plea from Macron for an 5-8 October session to be held in the usual place.

The parliament has its headquarters in the eastern French city, where MEPs usually based in Brussels travel every month for 12 plenary sessions a year.

These have been held exclusively in Brussels, where the parliament also has a chamber, since March due to concerns over spreading the virus.

Sassoli said Monday that parliament’s return to Strasbourg had been agreed “once the conditions allow”.

This would not be next week, however, “given the increased rate of transmission of the virus in France, including in Bas-Rhin” where Strasbourg is located.

Share
Updated at 

The Liverpool midfielder Thiago Alcântara has tested positive for Covid-19.

The 29-year-old, who missed Monday’s match against Arsenal, has exhibited minor symptoms of the virus but is in good health and is getting better, the club said.

Liverpool added: “The club has, and will continue to follow, all protocols relating to Covid-19 and Thiago will remain in self-isolation for the required period of time.”

The Premier League said it will pay for Covid-19 testing for EFL opponents in cup competitions this season. Under the terms of an arrangement that will start with any Carabao Cup quarter-finals and apply to FA Cup ties, clubs will be required to comply with the process.

The decision comes after disparities in testing regimes between the top flight and Football League clubs led to concerns over safety, with an outbreak of coronavirus in the Leyton Orient squad discovered only after Tottenham, their opponents in the Carabao Cup, paid for testing.

Jessica Murray
Jessica Murray

Hi everyone, this is Jessica Murray taking over the blog for the next few hours.

Please do get in touch with any story tips or personal experiences you would like to share.

Email: jessica.murray@theguardian.com
Twitter: @journojess_

Summary

I’m handing the blog over to Jess Murray now. Thanks very much for reading. A summary of a particularly dark day is below:

  • The global coronavirus death toll passed one million. The world has suffered the loss of more than one million people in just nine months since the coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan, China, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, who rely on official government data.The current total is: 1,003,337. The true toll is likely to be higher due to time lags, differing testing rates and definitions (of what constitutes a coronavirus-related death, for example) and suspected underreporting in some countries.
  • The director-general of the World Health Organisation described the one millionth death as a “difficult moment for the world”. Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus urged urged countries to “bridge national boundaries” to fight back against the virus and said it was never too late to turn the tide on the disease.
  • Germany is heading for nearly 20,000 new infections a day unless urgent action is taken, its chancellor Angela Merkel said. Merkel said she wanted to avoid another nationwide lockdown “at all costs” but that measures were necessary on a state-by-state basis. Restrictions will include a cap on the number of people at parties and family gatherings in areas worst affected by the coronavirus.
  • The Netherlands is in grip of a fast-growing second wave of coronavirus. The country reported 3,011 new cases on Tuesday, a daily record, as it imposed new measures to combat a resurgence of infections.
  • The UK reported 7,143 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, the highest single figure to date, and 71 deaths, the biggest toll since July. This figure is possibly misleading though, as testing is more widespread now than it was during the peak.
  • More than 60 million people in India could have contracted Covid-19, the country’s lead pandemic agency said, citing a nationwide study measuring antibodies. The study found that the number of Indians to have had the disease may be 10 times higher than the official figure of 6.1 million.

Ukraine’s former president, Petro Poroshenko, has tested positive for Covid-19 as the pandemic situation worsens across the country.

“I got a positive test for Covid-19,” the 55-year-old ex-president wrote on Twitter, adding that he is undergoing treatment at home.

Отримав позитивний тест на Covid.

Невчасно. Дуже шкодую, що змушений зробити перерву в поїздках регіонами.

За шість останніх років звик переносити хвороби на ногах. Але ця підступніша. Значно підступніша.

Тому від сьогодні лікуюся вдома.

Закликаю всіх українців берегти себе! pic.twitter.com/MdYXZ5Cf8x

— Петро Порошенко (@poroshenko) September 29, 2020

Poroshenko – now a lawmaker – has diabetes, which has been associated with an increased risk of developing complications from the coronavirus.

The former president added that he is not used to taking sick leave, but Covid-19 is “much more treacherous”.

Poroshenko led Ukraine after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of a Moscow-backed separatist conflict in country’s east.

In 2019 he was trounced in a presidential election by Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian with no previous political experience.

Ukraine, one of Europe’s poorest countries with a population of some 40 million, has reported more than 204,000 cases of coronavirus and more than 4,000 fatalities.

Share
Updated at 

The head of the International Monetary Fund has given a stark warning that Covid-19 will lead to a lost generation unless urgent steps are taken to prevent the pandemic widening the gap between rich and poor countries.

Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, said financial support for the most vulnerable countries had to be stepped up to prevent long-time scarring that would roll back anti-poverty efforts of recent decades.

Writing for the Guardian, Georgieva said failure to act would reverberate around the world, with greater inequality leading to social and economic upheaval.

You can read the piece here:

New York City will impose fines on people who refuse to wear a face covering as the rate of positive tests for coronavirus climbed above 3% for the first time in months, mayor Bill de Blasio has said.

Officials will first offer free masks to those caught not wearing one. If the person refuses, they will face an unspecified fine, de Blasio told reporters, according to Reuters.

“Our goal, of course, is to give everyone a free face mask,” de Blasio said. “We don’t want to fine people, but if we have to we will.”

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio greets students in Manhattan, New York Photograph: John Minchillo/AP

The new rule extends across the city a similar policy imposed earlier this month by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, controlled by New York state governor, Andrew Cuomo, in which commuters who refuse to wear a mask on public transit face a $50 fine.

De Blasio’s office did not respond to questions about who would enforce the new fines and how much they would be.

The city-wide daily positive test rate was 3.25%. The mayor attributed the rise in part to nine zip codes out of 146 that city health officials say have seen a worrying uptick in cases, including several tight-knit Hasidic Jewish communities. The seven-day rolling average for positive coronavirus tests was 1.38%.

Share
Updated at 

More than 60 million Indians may have caught Covid, 10 times the official figure

The AFP news agency has more on the Indian study mentioned below. Its key finding is pretty stark: more than 60 million people in India - 10 times the official figure - could have contracted the novel coronavirus, the country’s lead pandemic agency has said, citing a nationwide study measuring antibodies.

According to official data, India is the world’s second most infected nation, with more than 6.1 million cases, just behind the United States.

But the real figure could be much higher, according to the latest serological survey - a study testing blood for certain antibodies to estimate the proportion of a population that has fought off the virus.

“The main conclusions from this sero-survey are that one in 15 individuals aged more than 10 have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 by August,” Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director-general Balram Bhargava said at a health ministry press conference.

Coronavirus infection rates among adults in India have risen sharply, a new survey has shown, although cases could rise much further because a large percentage of the population has not yet been exposed.

In the serological survey conducted in August and September, blood samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. If a person tests positive for the antibodies, it means they were infected with the virus at some point.

Blood samples collected from more than 29,000 adults between 17 August and 22 September showed that the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies increased to 7.1% compared to 0.73% in a previous survey between 11 May and 4 June, the director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Balram Bhargava, told a press briefing.

“However, a large percentage of the population is still unexposed and the susceptibility of a considerable section of people getting infected exists,” he added.

Kim Willsher
Kim Willsher

France is looking across the Channel with rare admiration after the NHS Covid-19 test-and-trace app was downloaded 12.4m times in four days – a much greater take-up than its French equivalent.

An estimated 3 million people have downloaded the French app, called StopCovid, since its launch in June. In August it was revealed that the app had sent only 72 alerts.

France’s minister for digital transition, Cédric O, admitted on Tuesday that more work was needed to convince the French population to download the app, which he said could help avert a new nationwide lockdown.

O said he was surprised to learn that the prime minister, Jean Castex, had not downloaded StopCovid, and nor had the justice minister, Éric Dupond-Moretti, the foreign affairs minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, or the junior interior minister, Marlène Schiappa.

You can read the full piece here:

Most viewed

Most viewed