1 July 2020 – WHO holds a second research and innovation
forum to discuss progress and knowledge gaps, and to define research priorities
for the remainder of the year.
The total number of cases in Victoria
is 2303 with 77 new cases. This is the sixteenth
consecutive day of double-digit case growth in Victoria, with a continuing and
concerning number of new cases associated with transmission in households and
families. There are 63 active cases in New South Wales, that majority are returned
internal travellers in hotel quarantine.
2 July
2020 — New
Zealand’s Health Minister David Clark resigns after a series of blunders amid
the country’s COVID-19 response.
Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern appointed Chris Hipkins as interim Health Minister
until the General Election scheduled for 19 September, in the wake of David
Clark’s resignation from that role. Megan Woods took on the responsibility for
Border Management (Covid response and Quarantine).
Victorian
Premier Daniel Andrews announced a Judicial inquiry into Hotel Quarantine
program. This follows some cases of coronavirus in Victoria being linked to a
breach in hotel quarantine infection control. There were 66 new cases
confirmed. A returned traveller to New South Wales tested positive after
leaving hotel quarantine in Victoria.
3 July 2020 — Confirmed cases globally surpass 11 million
only 5 days after the total reached 10 million. UNITAID and UNICEF agree to an
initial purchase of dexamethasone to expand the drug’s access for low-and
middle-income countries.
No new
cases reported in New Zealand for the 12th day in a row.
108 new
cases in Victoria.
4 July 2020 – WHO discontinues the lopinavir/ritonavir treatment arm of the Solidarity
Trial after a recommendation from the trial’s steering committee that found the
treatment produced little or no difference to patient mortality when compared
to standard of care.
A further two postcodes in Victoria are placed in
lockdown until 29 July, and nine public housing towers with 3,000 residents were added, with an
additional condition that residents cannot leave the tower under any
circumstances for 5 days – possibly longer, raising concerns about residents
mental health. 74 new cases confirmed in Victoria.
5 July 2020 –
At the request
of the New South Wales Government, the Federal Government introduced
restrictions on the number of passengers arriving at Sydney Airport. A maximum
of 50 passengers per flight, and 450 international arrivals per day was set.
127 new cases in Victoria.
6 July 2020 – The US submit their formal notification to withdraw from WHO. UN
is reviewing whether they have met the conditions to do so. 239 scientists urge
the agency, in an open letter, to recognise the potential for airborne spread
of the virus.
127 new cases are reported in Victoria. The New
South Wales and Victorian Governments announce their border would close on 8
July. 191 new Victorian cases.
7 July 2020 – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tests positive following months
of downplaying the crisis, while cases and deaths from the virus continue to
rise. Brazil has the world’s 2nd largest confirmed caseload with 1.7
million cases. Globally there are 11.5 million cases, and 536,000 deaths.
There are 22
active cases in New Zealand. The Government asked Air New Zealand and Singapore
Airlines to manage international bookings to New Zealand over the next three
weeks to ensure that quarantine facilities are not overwhelmed. Air New Zealand
said 5,500 people were booked to travel in the next three weeks.
Premier Andrews
announced that metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire would re-enter
lockdown for a minimum of 6 weeks starting at 12am 9 July. 134 new cases in
Victoria.
8 July 2020 – Confirmed cases in Africa surpass 500,000, in the past month
cases have doubled in 22 countries. WHO say Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, and
South Africa account for 71% of cases on the African continent.
165 new cases
in Victoria.
9 July 2020 – Former
New Zealand Prime Minster Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf will co-chair the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness
and Response tasked with evaluating the global response to COVID-19. The panel
is expected to deliver an interim report in November and the full report at the
World Health Assembly in May 2021. In response to the open letter from
scientists, WHO updates a scientific brief on transmission of COVID-19 saying
more research is required on airborne transmission.
Lockdown begins
for metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire. 288 new cases in Victoria.
10 July 2020 –
216 new cases
in Victoria. The number of cases in New South Wales number 3,278 the majority
of new cases are returning travellers in hotel quarantine. Two new case are
linked to the Crossroads Hotel at Casula after they had been there on 3 July.
11 July 2020 – A study in the UK of 90 patients and healthcare workers finds
that only 17% of patients retained a potent antibody response to COVID-19 three
months later.
The New South
Wales Government announced that compulsory hotel quarantine, previously free to
international arrivals, would now be charged for from 18 July. Those already in
quarantine would not be charged and neither would those who had purchased
flights and had a confirmed international arrival date before 11.59pm 12 July
2020 AEST. Victoria reported 273 new cases.
12 July 2020 – WHO received reports of 230.000 new cases, almost 80% are from
just 10 countries.
The number of active
cases in New Zealand has risen to 25.
177 new cases
in Victoria. New South Wales Government urges anyone who has visited the
Crossroads Hotel at Casula to be tested after a business person from Victoria
tested positive. The total number of cases linked to the hotel is 9.
13 July 2020 – The 2020 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report
estimates that between 83 million and 132 million people could be pushed into
hunger this year, many through job losses amid lockdown measures. Globally
cases surpass 13 million.
270 new cases
in Victoria.
14 July 2020 – American biotech Moderna publishes interim results from ongoing
human clinical trials of its candidate vaccine for COVID-19 finding that it was
safe and provoked an immune response in all 45 volunteers.
Because of an
increase in new cases the New South Wales Government announced tightened
preventative measures reintroducing new requirements for pubs. 238 new cases in
Victoria.
15 July 2020 – 75 countries have expressed an interest in joining the COVID-19 Vaccine
Global Access Facility – COVAX, which is a mechanism aimed at increasing
equitable access to future COVID-19 vaccines.
Prime Minister
Ardern released the Government’s
COVID-19 response framework, which would involve localised lock-downs in the
event there was another community-wide outbreak of COVID-19.
317 new cases
reported in Victoria, the total number of cases in the State have more than
doubled in the last two weeks. The total is now 4750.
16 July 2020 – Research from the Jubilee
Debt Campaign finds that $11.3billion in International Monetary Fund loans to
countries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic is effectively enabling those
countries to continue paying loans to private lenders rather than tackling
their health and economic crises.
428 new cases
in Victoria
17 July 2020 – Globally cases of COVID-19 reach 14 million. The UN releases the
third updated appeal for the global COVID-19 humanitarian response plan,
amounting to $10.3 billion – a more than fivefold increase to the initial $2
billion appeal in March. The issue of reinfection is an active area of research
globally. It is known that people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus will
develop an immune response providing some protection against reinfection, but
is not clear how long the protection lasts or whether a person can be
reinfected after the immunity wears off.
In New South
Wales the number of diners at tables in venues was reduced from 20 to 10 and a
maximum number of 3000 are permitted at any venue. Another 217 new cases in
Victoria,
18 July 2020 – Confirmed deaths globally surpass 600,000.
Federal
Government announced that the scheduled sitting for the first wo weeks of
August would be cancelled after medical
advice stated there would be significant risk of members returning to Canberra
from all over the country. The sitting
will now start on 24 August. 363 new cases in Victoria. New South Wales saw an
increase of 62 new cases.
19 July 2020 –
Victorian
Premier Daniel Andrews announced that wearing masks or face coverings would be
mandatory in metropolitan Melbourne from 11.59pm on 22 July. The State of
Emergency was extended to 16 August. 275 new cases in Victoria.
20 July 2020 – WHO raises concerns over the spread of COVID-19 among Indigenous
peoples of America saying there have been more than 700,000 cases reported in
the region and over 2000 deaths. They stress the importance of contact tracing
to suppress the transmission of the virus. A new study at Oxford University is
showing a promising vaccine candidate. The UK announces it has secured 90
million doses of three promising vaccine candidates in advance.
The number of
daily overseas arrivals at Sydney Airport was reduced from 450 to 350 daily.
Federal Government announced that the Coronavirus Supplement and JobKeeper
subsidy would be extended but in an altered form at a lower level beyond 24
September. 374 new Victorian cases.
21 July 2020 – The Pan American Health Organisation warns that 3 in 10 people in
the Americas are at risk of developing severe COVID-19 due to underlying health
conditions. The region recorded almost 900,000 new cases and close to 22,000
deaths in the past week. Brazil, Mexico and the United States account for the
majority of cases.
Health Minister
Chris Hipkins announce the Government would be investing $302 million into
health services.
484 new cases
in Victoria.
22 July 2020 – Globally cases surpass 15 million.
Visiting aged
care/health care settings in Victoria is restricted to carers only and a limit
of one hour per day. 403 new cases.
23 July 2020 – Low levels of testing in the Central African region is a serious
concern. One of the main challenges is access to testing facilities, for
example there are only one or two testing sites in the country of Chad. Globally
the WHO reported 247,225 new cases and 7097 deaths in the last 24 hours.
There are 22
active cases in New Zealand, all in Managed Isolation facilities.
300 new cases.
24 July 2020 – 15 lawmakers and 11 parliamentary staff test positive for
COVID-19 in Zambia.
357 new cases
in Victoria
25 July 2020 –
No new cases in New Zealand.
No new cases in New Zealand.
There have been
459 new cases in Victoria in the past day and 10 more deaths. The total cases
for the State now number 8181, almost doubling again in the last ten days.
There are 560 cases linked to aged care facilities, 369 cases are linked to
public housing towers. 228 patients are in hospital including 42 in intensive
care. In New South Wales this week there have been 81 new cases, most have been
locally acquired through community transmission after the initial cluster
introduced by an interstate traveller.
26 July 2020 – Vietnam reimposes social distancing restrictions in the city of
Danang after confirming locally transmitted COVID-19 cases over the weekend. Cases
globally have reached 16 million.
Another 532 new
cases were recorded in the last 24 hours in Victoria and 6 deaths.
27 July 2020 – Nearly 15 million children were vaccinated against measles in a
10 day vaccination campaign in Ethiopia according to WHO, it was originally
scheduled for April but delayed because of the challenges of conducting a
vaccination campaign during the pandemic.
There were 384
new cases overnight and 6 deaths in Victoria.
28 July 2020 –
There were 295
new cases and 9 deaths in Victoria. 3 new cases are reported in Queensland
after 2 residents returned from Victoria and gave false border declarations
about their movements.
29 July 2020 –
Housing
Minister Megan Woods announced that some travellers entering New Zealand would
have to pay for their 14 day stay in managed isolation. The isolation stay will
cost $3100 for the first adult in each hotel room, $950 for each additional
adult and $475 for each child sharing the room. Travellers affected by the
ruling include New Zealanders who have left the country after the rules came in
to effect , those who intend to stay for less than 90 days, and most temporary
visa holders with the exception of family members of citizens who were not
liable, diplomats, or those in the country for the Christchurch Mosque trial.
New Zealanders returning home permanently will be exempt.
A staggering
723 cases were recorded overnight bringing the state total to 9,998. The State
Government announced that from midnight 2 August it would be mandatory to wear
a face mask outside of homes across the state. Queensland records 3 new cases,
two had returned from New South Wales but had not been in a declared hot-spot,
the 3rd had returned from overseas. There are now 11 active cases in
Queensland including 5 in hospital. Aged care facilities in South Brisbane are
not permitted to accept visitors due to the increased risk of COVID-19.
30 July 2020 – Six months after the WHO declared COVID-19 a public health
emergency of international concern confirmed cases surpass 17 million globally.
In the past 25 days cases on the African continent have almost doubled. The
number of cases in the US have now surpassed 4,495,000.
Victoria
recorded 627 new cases overnight and a further eight deaths. Queensland records
a further 3 cases.
31 July 2020 – COVID-19 Emergency Committee meets again to discuss and review
thegloabal pandemic response via videoconference.
There are now
10,931 cases in Victoria, close to 6,000 are active cases. There have been 116
deaths in the state with another 4 recorded overnight and a further 397 new
cases. The State of Emergency has been extended until midnight 16 August. There
were 17 new cases in New South Wales bringing the state total to 3,584.
Queensland have announced that their border is closed to residents of the
Sydney Metropolitan area. The Northern Territory have closed their border with
Queensland in response to the now 7 new cases in that state.
Total cases
globally as of July 31, 2020: 17,396,943 and 675,060 deaths
Total cases in Australia: 17,282,
200 deaths, 10,201 recovered
Total cases in New Zealand: 1212,
deaths 22, 1190 recovered
(figures from WHO)
Sources:
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