|  | | | | | | | | | What you need to know about the coronavirus today | | | | | | Germany and France prepare new lockdowns
Germany and France prepared to announce restrictions approaching the level of last spring’s blanket lockdowns on Wednesday as COVID deaths across Europe rose almost 40% in a week, sending financial markets sharply lower on fears of the likely costs.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to meet state premiers to discuss closing restaurants and bars but keeping schools and nurseries open, while allowing people to go out in public only with members of their own household.
In France, which has seen more than 50,000 new cases a day, President Emmanuel Macron will give a televised address on Wednesday evening when he is expected to announce further curbs on people’s movements following the curfew measures introduced across much of the country last week.
The measures, following similar moves in Italy and Spain, are expected to leave schools and most businesses working and would be less severe than the near-total lockdowns imposed at the start of the crisis in March and April.
Grave-counting satellite images seek to track Yemen's death toll
A first-of-its-kind study using satellite images to count fresh graves and analyze burial activity in Yemen has estimated the death toll there from COVID-19 or COVID-related causes is far higher than official government figures suggest.
Using high-resolution satellite imagery, researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine analyzed burial activity at all identifiable cemeteries in Yemen’s Aden region and calculated an estimated 2,100 “excess deaths” during the COVID-19 outbreak between April and September.
“This total is best interpreted as the net sum of deaths due to COVID-19 infection and deaths indirectly attributable to the pandemic,” they said. The indirect deaths would be those caused by disruptions to health services or by measures which may have caused problems accessing food, they added.
Canada's Trudeau predicts 'tough winter,' deaths top 10,000
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday predicted a “tough winter” in the face of a second wave of COVID-19 infections engulfing much of the country, and called it a horrific national tragedy as deaths topped the 10,000 mark. Canada’s case numbers have been rising, triggering new restrictions on public gatherings and indoor activities in several provinces. On Tuesday, Canada recorded 2,674 new cases, while there are now 10,001 deaths and a total of 222,887 cases.
“This sucks. It really, really does,” Trudeau told a news conference when asked about the fatigue Canadians feel after living amid the pandemic for more than seven months.
Four-month lockdown lifted in Melbourne
Melbourne’s shops, restaurants and hotels opened for business on Wednesday after a four-month coronavirus lockdown, with customers in the city of five million enjoying alfresco eating in the spring sunshine and shopkeepers hoping for big sales to make up for lost revenue.
Salons and restaurants still have to comply with strict spacing requirements that cap dining numbers at 10 per indoor space and 50 outdoor, which will make it uneconomic for some businesses to reopen. Others have already closed for good.
“It’s quite a sunny day here in Melbourne,” said student Ben Israelson, 22, who was drinking coffee with a university friend. “It’s not over yet, but I’m pretty excited about things opening up again.”
Track the global spread with our live interactive graphic as cases near 44,000,000. | | | | | | | | Breakingviews - Corona Capital: Sony, Beer, Heathrow vs. De Gaulle Carlsberg shows Heineken why China exposure trumps America and Paris overtakes London in air traffic – but likely not for long. Catch up with the latest financial insights. | | | | | | | | Reuters reporters and editors around the world are investigating the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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We prefer tips from named sources, but if you’d rather remain anonymous, you can submit a confidential news tip. Here’s how. | | | | | | | | | | | | | U.S. Elections | | In the historically black neighborhoods of Waco, Texas, the usual get-out-the-vote activities in this presidential election year were upended by the pandemic. Gone was the all-day party with a DJ and grills full of barbecue at an early voting site at a center that once housed a historically Black college. Organizers toned down the “Souls to the Polls” event that once saw church vans packed with voters and decorated for the occasion. Door-knocking was replaced by 5,000 hangers placed on doorknobs reminding people to vote. | | | | Less than a week before Election Day, Joe Biden is tantalizingly close to a prize that has eluded generations of Democratic presidential candidates: Texas. As of Tuesday, nearly 8 million Texans had cast ballots, approaching 90% of the entire 2016 vote - a higher percentage than any state in the country, according to the U.S. Elections Project at the University of Florida. | | | | The election between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden is the first since 1976 in which the number of Americans unable to vote because of a felony conviction has declined, according to the Sentencing Project, which advocates for criminal justice reform. Felony convictions still disenfranchise about 5.2 million Americans, but that is down 15% since 2016, according to the group.
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