(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
Shifting rhetoric
President Donald Trump, in a shift in rhetoric and tone, encouraged Americans on Tuesday to wear masks if they cannot maintain social distancing and warned that the novel coronavirus pandemic would get worse before it got better. [nL2N2ES250
Trump’s remarks were a change in strategy from his robust emphasis on reopening the U.S. economy after its long, virus-induced shutdown and represented his first recent acknowledgement of how bad the problem has become.
The United States reported more than 1,000 deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, marking the first time since June 10 it has surpassed that grim milestone, as governors and officials in some states bickered over the best way to respond to the crisis.
Negative test needed to fly
Passengers of China-bound flights must provide negative COVID-19 test results before boarding, China’s aviation authority said on Tuesday, as the government looks to reduce the risk of imported coronavirus cases amid increased international travel.
Nucleic acid tests must be completed within five days of embarkation, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said on its website. Tests should be conducted at facilities designated or recognised by Chinese embassies in host countries, it said.
Major U.S. and European Union airlines too asked the EU and White House on Tuesday to consider a joint U.S.-EU programme to test airline passengers for COVID-19 as a way to allow people to travel once again between the United States and Europe.
More likely to happen at home
South Korean epidemiologists have found that people were more likely to contract the new coronavirus from members of their own households than from contacts outside the home.
A study published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on July 16 looked in detail at 5,706 “index patients” who had tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 59,000 people who came into contact with them.
The findings showed just two out of 100 infected people had caught the virus from non-household contacts, while one in 10 had contracted the disease from their families.
Don’t take me out to the ball game
When Major League Baseball (MLB) opens its coronavirus-delayed 2020 season on Thursday, things will look very different to what fans of America’s favourite pastime are used to seeing.
Players will be tested on a regular basis and must quarantine in their hotel rooms when on the road this season, ballparks will be eerily empty without fans for at least the start of the season, and spitting is prohibited at all times in club facilities and on the field.
The virus-abbreviated condensed 60-game season, which was only agreed to after testy negotiations between MLB and the players union, will be baseball’s shortest since 1878. The schedule will also put increased emphasis on geographical proximity as MLB wants to limit travel.
Safer side of the river
The tourist hot spot of Niagara Falls has gained a new photo-op for social distancing Canadian visitors onboard ferries taking them into the mist of the falls: crowds of Americans.
At the famous waterfalls on the U.S.-Canadian border, Canadian ferries are limited to just six passengers per boat, out of a 700-person capacity. But on the U.S. side, the ferries are operating at 50% capacity, according to Maid of the Mist boat tours, in line with the guidance of New York State public health officials, according to its website.
Tourists at the falls on Tuesday said they felt much safer with the six-person limit. “I’m glad I’m in Canada,” said Amanda Barnes of Brampton, Ontario. “You can see why the pandemic is raging in the United States and not in Canada when you look at the difference between the boats.”
(Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Robert Birsel)
