Coronavirus: Spain insists country is safe as two British ministers on holiday are caught out by sudden quarantine rule

Australia records largest number of deaths in one day

Government's handling of Spain quarantine 'shambolic', says Jonathan Ashworth

Spain‘s foreign minister has insisted the country is safe after the UK’s sudden imposition of a mandatory two-week quarantine for travellers, and said that any retaliatory measure would be taken “on the basis of epidemiological data”, adding: “This is not a political exercise.”

British foreign secretary Dominic Raab defended the move, described by Labour as “shambolic”, which also caught out two government ministers as they holidayed in Spain – transport secretary Grant Shapps and the minister for London, Paul Scully.

It came as North Korea identified what is believed to be its first case of Covid-19, in a defector who returned after three years, state news agency KCNA reported.

Australia recorded its largest number of deaths in one day, with all 10 taking place in Victoria, which suffered its second-highest tally of new cases despite a lockdown in Melbourne.

Please see below for how the day's events unfolded:

[26 July 2020 11:15 · Andy Gregory]

Voices: Left unchallenged, anti-vaxxers could become as contagious as coronavirus itself

The country took a cautious sigh of relief this week as news broke that the coronavirus vaccine being developed by Oxford academics triggers an immune response, writes Chris Elmore for Independent Voices.

As critical phase 3 trials get underway, communities across the UK – and indeed around the world – have been given a glimmer of hope that a long-term solution to this crisis could be within reach. We mustn’t get ahead of ourselves, though. The Oxford/AstraZeneca study is just one of around 140 that are being conducted globally, as world-leading scientists seek to find what could be as close to a “silver bullet” end to this pandemic as we are going to get.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that formulating a clinically safe and effective vaccine would be the final hurdle we face in what will inevitably still be an arduous struggle against Covid-19. Recent polling from the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) lays bare that 31 per cent of the British public would be hesitant to have a coronavirus vaccine if one becomes available. This doesn’t merely present a risk for those individuals – it risks undermining the effectiveness of potentially the most powerful tool in our armoury.

[26 July 2020 11:20 · Andy Gregory]

Clubs, bars and beaches face new lockodwn in Spain

 Nightclubs, bars and beaches in Spain  are facing new lockdown restrictions after turning into coronavirus hot spots.

The northeast region of Catalonia now hosts two of the most worrying virus hotspots in Spain, prompting authorities to tighten restrictions in Barcelona and an interior agricultural area around Lleida that were relaxed only a month ago when Spain had its devastating outbreak in check.

The UK announced on Saturday that it had put Spain back on its unsafe list, meaning that travellers arriving in the UK from Spain must now quarantine for 14 days.

Norway also ordered a 10-day quarantine for those who return from the Iberian Peninsula. France and Belgium are recommending that travellers ditch plans to spend their summer vacations in Barcelona and its nearby beaches, which have seen crowds too massive to allow for social distancing. Police have had to step in and take measures to reduce the number of beach-goers.

[26 July 2020 11:43 · Andy Gregory]

Make or break: Ensuring your relationships survive the new normal

he day the UK went into lockdown, Sarah Dixon, 50, waved goodbye to her daughter. Although the prime minister’s broadcast was still hours away, social media had been full of speculation that the government was about to impose strict new rules to control the spread of coronavirus. The 18-year-old – Dixon’s youngest child – was worried that she would be kept apart from her boyfriend if the rumours came true, writes Natasha Preskey.

So Dixon, and her husband Stephen, who have four children, gave their blessing for her to go and live with her partner. “She cried because she didn’t want to leave,” Dixon tells The Independent. “But within the space of an hour, though, she’d packed up her car, driven off, and we didn’t see her for three months.”

The couple were left to see out lockdown alone – the first time in over 20 years they’d spent a week by themselves. “In the back of my mind I always thought ‘Oh god, I wonder what it’s going to be like when it’s just him and me’,” Dixon explains. But as the weeks drew on, they settled into a routine, enjoying daily sunset beach walks, and gardening.

Three months later, the easing of lockdown brought another drastic change. Their eldest son lost his job and he, his wife, and his younger brother, all came back to the family home. Sarah and Stephen went from living alone as a couple, to the house being the busiest it has been in five years.

[26 July 2020 11:45 · Andy Gregory]

TUI cancels all holidays to mainland Spain until 9 August

TUI, Europe's biggest holiday company, said on Sunday it had decided to cancel all holidays to mainland Spain up to and including 9 August in updated advice after Britain imposed a quarantine on those returning from the country.

"TUI UK have taken the decision to cancel all holidays to mainland Spain up to and including Sunday 9th August 2020," it said in a statement.

"We know how much our customers look forward to their holiday abroad and some will be able to accommodate the new quarantine restrictions. Therefore all those that wish to travel to the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands will be able to travel as planned from Monday 27th July."

[26 July 2020 11:51 · Andy Gregory]

North Korea enters state of emergency as infection possibly discovered

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un placed the city of Kaesong near the border with South Korea under total lockdown after a person was found there with suspected Covid-19 symptoms, saying "the vicious virus" may have entered the country, state media reported Sunday.

If the person is officially declared a coronavirus patient, he or she would be North Korea's first confirmed case. The North has steadfastly said it has had no cases of the virus, a claim questioned by outside experts.

The lockdown was declared on Friday afternoon. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the suspected virus patient is a runaway who fled to South Korea three years ago before illegally crossing the border into the North early last week.

KCNA said respiratory secretion and blood tests showed the person "is suspected to have been infected" with the coronavirus.

It said the person was placed under quarantine. People who had been in contact with the suspected patient and those who had been to Kaesong in the last five days were also quarantined.

Describing its anti-virus efforts as a "matter of national existence," North Korea earlier this year shut down nearly all cross-border traffic, banned foreign tourists and mobilised health workers to quarantine anyone with symptoms. But the Kaesong lockdown is the first such known measure taken in a North Korean city to stem the pandemic.

AP

[26 July 2020 11:59 · Andy Gregory]

Trump says Democrats are like 'Venezuela on steroids' for trying to overturn his travel ban

Donald Trump attacked Democrats on Capitol Hill after they passed the No Ban Act, which would repeal his travel ban towards several Muslim-majority countries, claiming the party has gone "Stone Cold Left - Venezuela on steroids!", Chris Riotta reports.

The No Ban Act, which was not expected to receive a vote in the Republican-led Senate, mainly served as a repudiation of the president’s efforts to impose travel restrictions on Muslim majority countries — a campaign promise he made in 2016, long before the coronavirus pandemic.

[26 July 2020 12:14 · Andy Gregory]

Hurricane Hanna batters coronavirus-ravaged south Texas coast

Hurricane Hanna has hit the south Texas coast with blistering winds and crashing waves, leaving a large area already badly hit by Covid-19 bracing for torrential downpours and potential flash floods.

Hanna came ashore on Padre Island on Saturday afternoon as a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, and later made a second landfall in Eastern Kennedy County, Texas.

Weakening as it headed west over land, Hanna was a tropical storm by Sunday morning, with its centre about 40 miles from Mcallen, Texas and about 65 miles from Monterrey, Mexico, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.

The centre cancelled the storm surge warning it had issued for the Texas coast but said Hanna could dump upward of 18 inches of rain in the area, which it said "will produce, life-threatening flash flooding, rapid rises on small streams, and isolated minor to moderate river flooding".

Texas governor Greg Abbott said during a Saturday briefing that the storm was especially challenging as it was sweeping through an area of the state that has been the worst hit by the coronavirus.

[26 July 2020 12:25 · Andy Gregory]

Scottish Lib Dems call for evidence behind 'shambolic' Spain quarantine

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has called for the evidence behind the "shambolic" decision to impose a mandatory quarantine on travellers from Spain.

The decision was taken across the UK on Saturday night, amid rising numbers of cases in the popular holiday destination, meaning some travellers would have to quarantine for two weeks when they returned.

In a letter to Nicola Sturgeon, Mr Rennie called on her to publish the data that led to Saturday's decision, just three days after the country was initially given the exemption.

After the decision, Scotland's justice secretary Humza Yousaf said: "The decision to exempt Spain earlier this week was taken when the data showed there was an improvement in the spread of the virus. But clearly the latest data has given us cause for concern to overturn that decision."

[26 July 2020 12:27 · Andy Gregory]

Tokyo identifies over 200 cases for sixth straight day

Tokyo officials confirmed 239 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, Japanese media reported, as the capital struggles with a resurgence in cases after the government lifted a state of emergency.

The total marks the sixth straight day new cases in the city have exceeded 200.Tokyo has raised its coronavirus alert system to the highest level after a series of new cases.

[26 July 2020 12:38 · Andy Gregory]

Jacinda Ardern turns 40: How New Zealand's youngest PM won over the world in her first term

The New Zealand prime ministser marks her birthday with just 55 days to go until a general election. Luckily for her, her polling numbers are stronger than ever, as Amy Nelmes Bissett reports from Auckland.